AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Hold"

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. B. Riley lifted their price target on AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5.38.

AXT Stock Up 7.4 %

AXT stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $3.93. 1,484,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,086,579. The stock has a market cap of $173.90 million, a P/E ratio of -9.82 and a beta of 2.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.02 and its 200-day moving average is $2.95. AXT has a 12 month low of $1.89 and a 12 month high of $5.64.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. AXT had a negative return on equity of 7.36% and a negative net margin of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $22.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AXT will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AXT by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. James Investment Research Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.

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