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

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target (up from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.10.

AXT Stock Down 4.5 %

AXTI opened at $1.48 on Thursday. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.29 and a twelve month high of $4.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1.87 and a 200-day moving average of $2.12. The stock has a market cap of $67.49 million, a PE ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 2.17.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $25.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.94 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.27% and a negative net margin of 11.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AXT will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in AXT by 65.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in AXT by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,551,380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,366,000 after acquiring an additional 74,211 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 106,121 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AXT by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 668,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 606,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 96,195 shares during 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.