AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Down 7.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) fell 7.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $61.51 and last traded at $62.3570. 5,902,023 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 8,836,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AXTI. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -122.68 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $1,938,082.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,275,328 shares in the company, valued at $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $406,170.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 109,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,503,681.50. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 in the last quarter. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in AXT by 1,314.6% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,790,000 after buying an additional 840,650 shares in the last quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,156,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in AXT by 2,404.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 574,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,398,000 after buying an additional 551,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.