Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys 2,704 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 1,917.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,845 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,704 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACLS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,396,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $307,158,000 after purchasing an additional 106,203 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,233,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,310,000 after buying an additional 18,101 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,060,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,069,000 after acquiring an additional 290,678 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,393,000 after acquiring an additional 348,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $62,738,000 after acquiring an additional 23,234 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ ACLS opened at $44.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 5.41, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.89. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.40 and a 1 year high of $158.61.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 21.02%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACLS. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.00.

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.