Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 24,934 AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,934 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,000. Virtu Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of AXT at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXTI. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in AXT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlas Brown Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in AXT by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 145,664 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165 shares during the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXT Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AXTI opened at $1.41 on Tuesday. AXT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.29 and a 12-month high of $4.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.11. The firm has a market cap of $64.29 million, a PE ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 2.17.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $25.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.94 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.27% and a negative net margin of 11.70%. On average, research analysts expect that AXT, Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4.50 price objective (down from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded AXT to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (up previously from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.10.

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.