AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $71.49 and last traded at $58.5530, with a volume of 1958778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.44 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.87.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) 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 Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total value of $770,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,026.32. The trade was a 15.07% 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, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total transaction of $6,911,099.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,521,886.16. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Destination Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at $458,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter worth $729,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of AXT by 2,404.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 574,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,398,000 after purchasing an additional 551,876 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in AXT by 2,333,600.0% in 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. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the third quarter valued at about $112,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.