Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases 268,098 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 54.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 764,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 268,098 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $53,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 782,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $54,649,000 after purchasing an additional 781,154 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $36,050,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% in the fourth 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. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $74,069,000 after purchasing an additional 290,678 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACLS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 5.3 %

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $42.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.64. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. 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 $40.40 and a 12 month high of $158.61.

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

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

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.