AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $46.97, but opened at $42.78. AXT shares last traded at $42.17, with a volume of 3,496,889 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on 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 AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 99.24 and a beta of 2.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.99.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.00 million. AXT had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. Sell-side analysts expect that AXT Inc will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other AXT news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 113,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 440.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its stake in AXT by 143.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AXT by 3,881.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

About AXT

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.