Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) PT Lowered to $170.00

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) had its price objective dropped by Benchmark from $180.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 52.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Friday. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target 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. Finally, B. Riley cut their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ACLS opened at $111.45 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.24. 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 12 month low of $93.77 and a 12 month high of $201.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.64.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $252.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.61 million. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 30.22% and a net margin of 22.16%. Axcelis Technologies’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Axcelis Technologies

In other news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson purchased 500 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $111.04 per share, for a total transaction of $55,520.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,713.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACLS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,040,912 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $524,066,000 after buying an additional 92,584 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $158,225,000 after acquiring an additional 141,372 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 447,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,036,000 after purchasing an additional 47,133 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 442,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,399,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

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.