Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 16,400 Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 16,400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,127,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Axcelis Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 74.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 10,540 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,313 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $111.04 per share, with a total value of $55,520.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,181,713.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $189.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of ACLS stock traded down $3.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $98.25. 647,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 679,020. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.63. The stock's fifty day moving average is $111.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.13. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.04 and a 52-week high of $201.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 2.71.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.17. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 21.78% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $310.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current 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.