Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 796,500 shares, a decrease of 16.4% from the December 31st total of 952,800 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 439,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.
In other news, Director Joseph P. Keithley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total transaction of $207,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mary G. Puma sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.06, for a total transaction of $62,060.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,043 shares of company stock valued at $964,956 in the last quarter. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 3.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,593,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $104,812,000 after acquiring an additional 84,664 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 8.2% during the third quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,890,555 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,913,000 after acquiring an additional 143,034 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,609,109 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $75,676,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 5.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,087,253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,947,000 after acquiring an additional 60,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 690,530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,476,000 after acquiring an additional 22,424 shares in the last quarter. 87.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NASDAQ ACLS opened at $63.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 4.16 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87 and a beta of 1.52. Axcelis Technologies has a 52-week low of $33.36 and a 52-week high of $77.60.
Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 3rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $176.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.20 million. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 14.95%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 8th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 10th. The company introduced two new target business models at its analyst day for ~$850M and $1B in annual revenue, which are targeted to drive EPS of ~$4.25 and ~$5.60 respectively, Schwab tells investors in a research note. Schwab remains very encouraged by the company’s newly outlined target models for multiyear growth and material earnings leverage to targeted EPS levels more than double 2021 expectations at the company’s $1B target model. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 10th. The analyst cites the company’s investor day presentation that featured an update on its business and introduced two new target models, raising its near-term revenue guidance outlook to $850. Bolton adds that the strong growth in the implant-intensive mature market segment and overall WFE growth have increased the ion implant total addressable market to about $2B. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $52.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.60.
About Axcelis Technologies
Axcelis Technologies, Inc engages in the manufacture of capital equipment for the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry. It ion implantation systems product line includes high current, medium current, and high energy implanters. It also offers post-sales equipment service and support, such as spare parts, equipment upgrades, used equipment, maintenance services, and customer training.