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

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $52.84, but opened at $49.37. AXT shares last traded at $42.81, with a volume of 7,005,069 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXTI. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Up 8.3%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.71 and a beta of 1.51.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its earnings results 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). AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The company had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total transaction of $706,950.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,825,833.56. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total transaction of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,482,038 shares in the company, valued at $107,521,886.16. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Oasis Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in AXT by 1,071.5% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXT Company Profile

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.