Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 620,674 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 79.4%, now holding 161,481 shares after selling 620,674 shares in the first quarter.
• B. Riley has increased its price target for Axcelis Technologies from $58.00 to $75.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, while the stock currently has an average target price of $118.33.
• Axcelis Technologies reported earnings of $1.04 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 23.7% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) by 79.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,481 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 620,674 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Axcelis Technologies worth $8,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACLS. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 118.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 584 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 160.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 581 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased 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 valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axcelis Technologies 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 owned 35,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,170,646.50. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACLS traded down $3.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.92. The stock had a trading volume of 328,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,404. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.39. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.40 and a 12-month high of $127.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.57.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 18.58%. The company had revenue of $192.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, B. Riley increased their price target 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 investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $118.33.

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.