Bank of America Corp DE Buys 145,701 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 104.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 145,701 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.88% of Axcelis Technologies worth $19,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 90.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 364 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,153.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,415.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 627 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ACLS. William Blair lowered Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $62.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.05, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.40 and a twelve month high of $158.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.52.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.65. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $192.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.