Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $169.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACLS. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Friday. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. B. Riley reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Craig Hallum raised shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In other news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson bought 500 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the executive vice president now owns 19,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,713.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axcelis Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,105,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the first quarter worth $37,871,000. Jackson Square Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $42,892,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $40,425,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 4.5 %

ACLS opened at $111.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $107.79 and a 200-day moving average of $121.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Axcelis Technologies has a 1-year low of $93.77 and a 1-year high of $201.00.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $252.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.61 million. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 22.16% and a return on equity of 30.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.