AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $5.50 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of AXT from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of AXT from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.10.

AXT Stock Down 0.3 %

AXTI opened at $3.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.43. AXT has a 52 week low of $3.48 and a 52 week high of $9.94. The company has a market capitalization of $163.76 million, a PE ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 2.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jesse Chen sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.45, for a total value of $33,375.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 107,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,464. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in AXT by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 13.1% during the third quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 23,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AXT by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 3,220 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP increased its position in shares of AXT by 20.2% during the second quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 21,554 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. 55.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AXT

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AXT, Inc engages in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of compound and single element semiconductor substrates. It also sells specialty material substrates and raw materials used to make substrates and other related products. The company was founded by Morris S. Young and Davis Zhang in 1986 and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.