AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) CEO Sells $1,938,082.65 in Stock

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) CEO Morris Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,275,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

AXT Stock Down 1.0%

AXT stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.39. The stock had a trading volume of 11,052,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,581,526. AXT Inc has a 52-week low of $1.13 and a 52-week high of $52.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.38 and a 200 day moving average of $15.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.81 and a beta of 1.74.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 10.59%. Equities research analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AXTI. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC cut AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AXT presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter worth about $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in AXT by 1,314.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,790,000 after acquiring an additional 840,650 shares during the last quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,156,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 2,404.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 574,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,398,000 after purchasing an additional 551,876 shares in the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.