AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.38.

AXT Stock Down 1.8 %

AXTI stock opened at $3.86 on Monday. AXT has a fifty-two week low of $1.89 and a fifty-two week high of $5.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.96. The stock has a market cap of $170.81 million, a PE ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 2.28.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $22.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.00 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 21.01% and a negative return on equity of 7.36%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth about $743,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth about $52,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 158,651 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 11,900 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.