Wedbush Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) by 71.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,237 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 14,737 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of AXT worth $76,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Atlas Brown Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Barclays PLC acquired a new position in AXT in the third quarter valued at about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target (up from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded AXT to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4.50 price objective (down previously from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.13.

AXT Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of AXTI stock opened at $1.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.89 million, a PE ratio of -4.14 and a beta of 2.36. AXT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.13 and a 52 week high of $4.23.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.08). AXT had a negative net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 5.27%. The company had revenue of $25.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.94 million. Analysts expect that AXT, Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXT Profile

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.