GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stock Position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) by 9,286.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 77,446 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Axcelis Technologies worth $3,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 364 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,415.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley restated 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

ACLS traded down $3.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.07. 776,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 656,594. The company has a quick ratio of 4.05, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.52. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.40 and a one year high of $158.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $55.38 and its 200 day moving average is $61.73.

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

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

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.93, for a total value of $104,166.26. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,170,646.50. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.