AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

AXTI has been the subject of several other reports. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.80.

AXT Stock Down 3.9%

NASDAQ AXTI opened at $41.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.52 and its 200-day moving average is $65.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 92.98 and a beta of 2.01. AXT has a 12-month low of $8.44 and a 12-month high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.10. AXT had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The company had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AXT will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXT news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in AXT by 440.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its position in AXT by 143.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AXT by 3,881.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc. develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrate materials used to make electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its products include indium phosphide, gallium arsenide and germanium substrates, supplied in wafer form for use by semiconductor manufacturers. These materials support applications such as fiber-optic and data communications, wireless devices, lasers, LEDs and solar cells. AXT also provides substrate processing services, including wafer polishing and finishing. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT serves customers around the world.