Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $397,000 in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $36,050,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $72,393,000 after acquiring an additional 348,504 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 820,116 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 313,689 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,060,096 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,069,000 after acquiring an additional 290,678 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACLS has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair downgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.00.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

ACLS traded up $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.86. The stock had a trading volume of 511,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.68 and a 200-day moving average of $64.74. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.40 and a one year high of $158.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.52.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $192.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.86 million. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. Axcelis Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Axcelis Technologies Company 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.