Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $189.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACLS. Bank of America cut Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $111.04 per share, for a total transaction of $55,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,713.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axcelis Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,435,039 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $724,219,000 after acquiring an additional 124,057 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,040,912 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $524,066,000 after purchasing an additional 92,584 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,132,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,594,000 after purchasing an additional 19,207 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 17.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $158,225,000 after purchasing an additional 141,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of ACLS stock opened at $108.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.63. Axcelis Technologies has a 1 year low of $103.25 and a 1 year high of $201.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 2.71.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The semiconductor company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $310.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.92 million. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 21.78%. Axcelis Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. Research analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies Company 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.