Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $136.00.

Separately, B. Riley raised their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $58.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,682 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.93, for a total transaction of $104,166.26. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,170,646.50. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,439,902 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $220,530,000 after purchasing an additional 43,768 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,441,022 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $71,576,000 after purchasing an additional 404,910 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,140,495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $56,648,000 after purchasing an additional 80,399 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $62,738,000 after purchasing an additional 23,234 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 826,332 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,044,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Axcelis Technologies stock traded down $2.09 on Friday, reaching $70.95. 341,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,740. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.08 and a current ratio of 5.56. The company's 50-day moving average is $62.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.57. Axcelis Technologies has a 1-year low of $40.40 and a 1-year high of $158.61.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.65. The business 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 18.55% and a net margin of 18.58%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.