Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has increased its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 7.1%, owning approximately 0.60% of the company worth about $9.6 million as of the last reporting period.
• B. Riley has raised its price target on Axcelis Technologies from $58.00 to $75.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, while the stock currently holds an average target of $90.00.
• Axcelis Technologies reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.04 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $0.39, despite a 23.7% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 194,192 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 12,931 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Axcelis Technologies worth $9,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,441,022 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $71,576,000 after buying an additional 404,910 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% in 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. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 0.8% in 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. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 764,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $53,386,000 after buying an additional 268,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 724,585 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $50,628,000 after buying an additional 71,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Axcelis Technologies

In other news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.93, for a total value of $104,166.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,170,646.50. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ACLS traded down $2.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $75.97. The stock had a trading volume of 691,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,760. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.56 and a quick ratio of 4.08. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.40 and a 12 month high of $117.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.34.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.40. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 18.58%. The business had revenue of $194.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Axcelis Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

About Axcelis Technologies

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.