Northland Securities Cuts AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Price Target to $5.00

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) had its price target decreased by analysts at Northland Securities from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Northland Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 136.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AXTI. StockNews.com downgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.30.

AXT Stock Performance

AXTI opened at $2.11 on Friday. AXT has a one year low of $1.89 and a one year high of $5.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.46 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01. The company has a market capitalization of $93.86 million, a PE ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 2.23.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.87% and a negative net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $27.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of AXT by 1,142.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 377,600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 347,200 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in AXT by 833.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 272,416 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 243,226 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at $743,000. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the second quarter valued at $503,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the second quarter valued at $468,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AXT

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.