AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.38.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXTI shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Craig Hallum increased their target price on AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in AXT by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AXT during the first quarter worth $52,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXT Stock Performance

AXTI opened at $3.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.74 million, a PE ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 2.29. AXT has a 52-week low of $1.89 and a 52-week high of $5.64.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $22.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.00 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 21.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXT Company Profile

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.