AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum downgraded AXT from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. B. Riley cut their target price on AXT from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on AXT from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $8.10.

AXT Price Performance

Shares of AXT stock opened at $3.76 on Thursday. AXT has a one year low of $3.48 and a one year high of $9.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.41.

Insider Activity at AXT

In related news, Director Jesse Chen sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.45, for a total value of $33,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 107,520 shares in the company, valued at $478,464. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth $1,467,000. Redmond Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AXT by 105.8% during the third quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 226,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 116,307 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth $195,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth $120,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.52% of the company’s stock.

About AXT

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AXT, Inc engages in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of compound and single element semiconductor substrates. It also sells specialty material substrates and raw materials used to make substrates and other related products. The company was founded by Morris S. Young and Davis Zhang in 1986 and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.