AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AXTI. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4.50 price target (down from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.10.

AXT Stock Down 2.5 %

AXT stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $1.55. 330,930 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 534,521. AXT has a 12-month low of $1.29 and a 12-month high of $4.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.13. The company has a market cap of $70.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.54 and a beta of 2.17.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.08). AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.27% and a negative net margin of 11.70%. The business had revenue of $25.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AXT by 65.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,937,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after purchasing an additional 766,122 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in AXT by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,551,380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,366,000 after buying an additional 74,211 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AXT by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 915,460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 106,121 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in AXT by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 668,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in AXT by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 606,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 96,195 shares in the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.