Brokerages Set Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Price Target at $169.00

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.00.

ACLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $113.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Axcelis Technologies has a 12-month low of $93.77 and a 12-month high of $201.00. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.41.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.33. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 22.16% and a return on equity of 30.22%. The company had revenue of $252.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Axcelis Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axcelis Technologies news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson purchased 500 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $111.04 per share, with a total value of $55,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,713.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,040,912 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $524,066,000 after buying an additional 92,584 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $158,225,000 after buying an additional 141,372 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 49.0% during the first quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC now owns 492,764 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,953,000 after acquiring an additional 162,040 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 11.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 447,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,036,000 after acquiring an additional 47,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 442,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,399,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares in the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Axcelis Technologies

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.