Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Buys 58,665 Shares of AXT Inc $AXTI

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 58,665 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,541,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Ariose Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,163,000. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $825,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $1,115,000. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $7,226,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AXT during the third quarter worth about $227,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were 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 $10,868,303.03. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

AXT Price Performance

Shares of AXT stock opened at $46.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 104.38 and a beta of 2.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.99. AXT Inc has a 52-week low of $8.44 and a 52-week high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. Analysts predict that AXT Inc will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXTI. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.80.

AXT Profile

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.