AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 7.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) traded down 7.4% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $58.32 and last traded at $59.6460. Approximately 2,994,395 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 10,071,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXTI. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AXT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

AXT Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.87 and a 200-day moving average of $63.72. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 3,092.75 and a beta of 1.86.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. AXT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 0.96%. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 113,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Dupree Financial Group LLC raised its position in AXT by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 14,349 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 6.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AXT in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

About AXT

AXT, Inc develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used as the foundation for various high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its principal products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with other specialty materials such as gallium antimonide and indium arsenide.

The company’s substrates are used in applications including wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networks, lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense systems.