New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $131,000 Position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,871 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACLS. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 782,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $54,649,000 after purchasing an additional 781,154 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $36,050,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $72,393,000 after acquiring an additional 348,504 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 820,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 313,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,060,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,069,000 after purchasing an additional 290,678 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACLS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price target on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $50.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 4.05, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.24. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $158.61.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. As a group, analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Axcelis Technologies

Axcelis Technologies, Inc designs, manufactures, and services ion implantation and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The company offers high energy, high current, and medium current implanters for various application requirements.