AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 2,150,167 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 74% from the previous session’s volume of 1,235,527 shares.The stock last traded at $13.6670 and had previously closed at $14.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXTI. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Northland Securities set a $10.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush set a $7.00 price target on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.00.

AXT Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $653.19 million, a P/E ratio of -26.94 and a beta of 1.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.42 and its 200-day moving average is $5.11.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%. On average, research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares in the company, valued at $30,071,546.20. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,738.75. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808 over the last 90 days. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. White Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of AXT by 2.8% in the second quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 23,467 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in AXT by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 227,333 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 339.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 405,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after buying an additional 313,618 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in AXT by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 8,039 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in AXT by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 58,542 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.