Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Stock Position Raised by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,892 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACLS. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 782,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,649,000 after acquiring an additional 781,154 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $72,393,000 after acquiring an additional 348,504 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 820,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 313,689 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,874,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 263,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,610,000 after acquiring an additional 89,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ACLS stock opened at $58.47 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.41. The company has a current ratio of 5.41, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.67 and a 12 month high of $158.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62.

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACLS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair lowered Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

About Axcelis Technologies

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.