AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 5.2% – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price dropped 5.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $19.89 and last traded at $20.2890. Approximately 3,098,348 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 8,999,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AXTI. B. Riley cut AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush set a $7.00 price target on shares of AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $961.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.46 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.17.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 25.22% and a negative return on equity of 11.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares in the company, valued at $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,738.75. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of AXT by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 23,467 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at $136,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 31.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,970 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter worth $112,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AXT during the third quarter valued at $52,000. 49.52% of the stock is 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.