American Century Companies Inc. Has $74.07 Million Holdings in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,060,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 290,678 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $74,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,638,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 330,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,095,000 after purchasing an additional 84,481 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 121.5% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,577 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 13,483 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,623 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 90.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 364 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $56.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.05, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.67 and a twelve month high of $158.61. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.10.

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

Axcelis Technologies declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.