Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $2.77 Million Investment in AXT Inc $AXTI

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 38,389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,767,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth $365,607,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of AXT by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $85,775,000 after acquiring an additional 930,526 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth $20,187,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 1,314.6% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,790,000 after purchasing an additional 840,650 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AXT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, Director Jesse Chen sold 6,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.24, for a total value of $711,261.28. Following the sale, the director owned 50,275 shares in the company, valued at $5,793,691. This trade represents a 10.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 8,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.17, for a total transaction of $926,379.61. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,244,393.05. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,505 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,866. 5.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AXT Stock Up 9.7%

NASDAQ:AXTI opened at $61.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 3,082.00 and a beta of 1.92. AXT Inc has a twelve month low of $2.98 and a twelve month high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 million. AXT had a return on equity of 0.96% and a net margin of 3.23%.AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AXT

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.