AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Down 6.5% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) were down 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $52.70 and last traded at $54.2950. Approximately 5,856,866 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 8,616,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Down 6.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -113.00 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.26 and its 200 day moving average is $16.63.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%. Equities research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total transaction of $706,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,825,833.56. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total transaction of $770,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 112,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,344,026.32. This trade represents a 15.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $458,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the third quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in AXT by 2,333,600.0% during the third quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 23,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 23,336 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AXT by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.