Bailard Inc. Takes Position in AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,194 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AXT by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AXT by 125.0% in the second quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 13,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in AXT by 4.3% during the second quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 202,223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 37,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 11,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AXTI shares. StockNews.com downgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.38.

AXT Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of AXT stock opened at $2.64 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.53. AXT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.89 and a 12-month high of $5.64. The firm has a market cap of $117.21 million, a PE ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 2.28.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.50 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.85% and a negative net margin of 14.75%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AXT, Inc. will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXT Profile

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.