AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,150,167 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the previous session’s volume of 1,235,527 shares.The stock last traded at $13.6670 and had previously closed at $14.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXTI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Northland Securities set a $10.00 target price on AXT in a report on Friday, October 31st. B. Riley increased their price target on AXT from $4.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush set a $7.00 price target on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

AXT Trading Down 6.4%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.91. The firm has a market cap of $647.32 million, a P/E ratio of -26.71 and a beta of 1.97.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%.The business had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the transaction, the director owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in AXT in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXT by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 227,333 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXT by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 19,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company 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.