AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.80.

A number of research firms recently commented on AXTI. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd.

AXT Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AXTI opened at $60.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.31 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.87. AXT has a fifty-two week low of $1.13 and a fifty-two week high of $70.88.

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

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 72,744 shares in the company, valued at $3,346,224. This trade represents a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $1,938,082.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 over the last 90 days. 8.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in AXT by 12.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in AXT by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,967 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,467 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.