Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires New Position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 37,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,638,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.12% of Axcelis Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,233,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,310,000 after acquiring an additional 18,101 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,393,000 after purchasing an additional 348,504 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 874,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $91,708,000 after purchasing an additional 28,141 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 820,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,302,000 after purchasing an additional 313,689 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 782,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $54,649,000 after purchasing an additional 781,154 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACLS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ACLS opened at $55.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.67 and a 1 year high of $158.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.41 and a quick ratio of 4.05.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Axcelis Technologies Profile

Axcelis Technologies, Inc designs, manufactures, and services ion implantation and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The company offers high energy, high current, and medium current implanters for various application requirements.