AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AXTI. Craig Hallum increased their price target on AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. B. Riley raised their price objective on AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.38.

AXT Stock Performance

Shares of AXT stock opened at $3.36 on Monday. AXT has a one year low of $1.89 and a one year high of $5.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.49 and its 200 day moving average is $3.37. The stock has a market cap of $149.18 million, a P/E ratio of -8.40 and a beta of 2.29.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. AXT had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $22.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Analysts predict that AXT will post -0.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in AXT by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 37,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 11,892 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 11,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.