Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 38.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $49,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,396,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $307,158,000 after buying an additional 106,203 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 290,678 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $62,738,000 after acquiring an additional 23,234 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 820,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 313,689 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 78,037.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 782,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,649,000 after purchasing an additional 781,154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.93, for a total value of $104,166.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,170,646.50. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 1.2%

ACLS opened at $58.32 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.07. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.40 and a 1-year high of $158.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.41 and a quick ratio of 4.05.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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