AXT Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 15,725 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the typical volume of 8,190 call options.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 72,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,346,224. The trade was a 21.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in AXT during the 4th quarter worth $98,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXTI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

NASDAQ:AXTI traded down $7.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,112,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,841,835. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.13 and a twelve month high of $70.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -126.21 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The company had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. On average, equities analysts predict that AXT will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AXT

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.