Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Position Cut by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 74.9%, selling 43,425 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 14,530 shares valued at $722,000.
• In contrast, Fifth Third Bancorp and Versant Capital Management Inc increased their stakes in Axcelis Technologies by over 160% and 118% respectively during the same period.
• Analysts at B. Riley raised their target price for Axcelis Technologies from $58 to $75 while maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) by 74.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,530 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 43,425 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACLS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 118.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 584 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 160.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 581 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 97.5% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,387.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 714 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley boosted their price target on Axcelis Technologies from $58.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.00.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In other news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,170,646.50. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ ACLS traded up $2.13 on Monday, hitting $70.88. 648,553 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 442,802. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.61 and a 200 day moving average of $61.23. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.40 and a twelve month high of $117.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.65. The firm 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%. Axcelis Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies 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.