StockNews.com downgraded shares of AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Thursday.
Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. B. Riley lifted their target price on AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $5.38.
AXT Stock Performance
Shares of AXTI stock remained flat at $3.65 during trading hours on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 176,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,451. AXT has a one year low of $1.89 and a one year high of $5.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.12 and a beta of 2.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.22.
AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $22.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.00 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 21.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AXT will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of AXT
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 605,642 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 50,975 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 208.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 115,388 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 78,001 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AXT by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,296,204 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,540,000 after purchasing an additional 20,747 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $743,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About AXT
AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.