AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Down 10.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) dropped 10.2% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $38.90 and last traded at $39.1040. 3,193,690 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 10,243,923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXTI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AXT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.98 and a beta of 2.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.24.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. AXT had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The firm had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.00 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXT news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the 2nd quarter worth about $365,607,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in AXT in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,062,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,911,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 1,347.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,561,000 after buying an additional 291,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $21,009,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AXT

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.