AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Moved Up to “Buy” by Wall Street Zen

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.80.

AXT Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of AXTI stock opened at $41.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.98 and a beta of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.52 and a 200-day moving average of $65.24. AXT has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.00 million. AXT had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 18.53%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AXT will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at $10,868,303.03. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in AXT during the third quarter worth about $230,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $279,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,297,000. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

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.