Traders Buy Large Volume of AXT Call Options (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 15,725 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 92% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,190 call options.

AXT Stock Performance

Shares of AXTI stock opened at $58.51 on Friday. AXT has a fifty-two week low of $1.13 and a fifty-two week high of $70.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.25. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -121.89 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,744 shares in the company, valued at $3,346,224. The trade was a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in AXT in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXTI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 note on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

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.