AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.75.

AXTI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush set a $7.00 price objective on shares of AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $9.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the transaction, the director owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AXT by 12.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in AXT by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 6,970 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AXT by 2.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in AXT by 100.0% in the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 19,575 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXT Stock Down 9.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AXTI traded down $2.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.33. 14,403,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,635,078. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -44.70 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.69. AXT has a fifty-two week low of $1.13 and a fifty-two week high of $26.30.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 25.22% and a negative return on equity of 11.19%. As a group, analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.