AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Break Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• AXT shares rose 10.6% and broke above their 200-day moving average of $63.72, reaching $65.20 before closing at $64.38 on heavy volume.
• Analyst views remain mixed: the consensus rating is “Hold”, with an average price target of $77.00. Price targets range from $52 to $90, including recent upgrades to “Buy” and downgrades to “Hold” or “Neutral.”
• AXT exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in EPS versus the $0.07 estimate and revenue of $47.59 million versus $34.08 million expected. However, an insider recently sold 4,000 shares at an average price of $96.07.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $63.72 and traded as high as $65.20. AXT shares last traded at $64.38, with a volume of 12,252,578 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut AXT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.00.

AXT Trading Up 10.6%

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $66.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,219.00 and a beta of 1.86.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $47.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 million. AXT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 0.96%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXT news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 113,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in AXT in the 1st quarter valued at $3,670,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in AXT by 112.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 776,300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $44,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,181 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in AXT in the first quarter worth $1,395,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in AXT in the first quarter worth $18,842,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the first quarter worth $5,920,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company's stock.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used as the foundation for various high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its principal products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with other specialty materials such as gallium antimonide and indium arsenide.

The company's substrates are used in applications including wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networks, lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense systems.

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