AXT Inc (AXTI) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.80.

AXTI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. 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 research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of AXT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st.

AXT Price Performance

AXTI opened at $47.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.64 and a beta of 2.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.46. AXT has a 1-year low of $7.81 and a 1-year high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.00 million. AXT had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 18.53%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AXT will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Ariose Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter valued at about $1,163,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $825,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,115,000. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,226,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Hedge funds and other 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.