AXT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 2,968 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 139% compared to the typical volume of 1,244 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total value of $371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 132,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,969,920.96. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AXT by 75.0% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 227,333 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 19,575 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXT by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 23,467 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $458,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $729,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wedbush set a $7.00 price target on AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of AXT from $4.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.50.

AXT Trading Up 14.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AXTI traded up $2.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,092,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,333,328. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.13 and a twelve month high of $17.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $775.29 million, a PE ratio of -31.97 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.80.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $27.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AXT will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

AXT Company Profile

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.