Old West Investment Management LLC Invests $1.59 Million in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. $ACLS

Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,268 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,588,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 45.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,659,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $115,648,000 after purchasing an additional 518,968 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 474,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,616,000 after buying an additional 141,004 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,344.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 109,628 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,388,000 after buying an additional 102,040 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,610,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,234,000 after buying an additional 91,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,324,000. 89.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, EVP Gerald M. Blumenstock sold 3,034 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.46, for a total value of $271,421.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,669,413.06. This represents a 13.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorge Titinger sold 2,000 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.05, for a total value of $172,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,395.85. This trade represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ACLS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Axcelis Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.25.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 5.6%

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $86.08 on Friday. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.40 and a twelve month high of $102.93. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.54. The company has a current ratio of 4.95, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.20. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $213.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.06 million. The firm’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies Profile

Axcelis Technologies, Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of ion implantation and cleaning equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The company specializes in high-current, medium-current and high-energy ion implantation systems, which are critical for introducing precisely controlled dopants into silicon wafers. Axcelis also offers plasma-based cleaning and dry strip tools that support advanced process nodes in logic, memory and power device manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses single-wafer and multi-wafer cluster tools designed to deliver high throughput, accuracy and uniformity for semiconductor process steps.