AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Down 5.2% – Time to Sell?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s stock price dropped 5.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $60.00 and last traded at $60.8680. Approximately 6,131,569 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 9,979,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.21 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.18.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. On average, analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total value of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,521,886.16. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total value of $770,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 112,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,344,026.32. This represents a 15.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754. 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 bought and sold shares of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of AXT during the second quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at about $98,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AXT

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.