Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,490,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the January 31st total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 495,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.
Insider Buying and Selling at Axcelis Technologies
In related news, CEO Mary G. Puma sold 2,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total transaction of $216,083.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 397,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,864,765.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mary G. Puma sold 2,697 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total value of $216,083.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 397,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,864,765.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mary G. Puma sold 4,202 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.31, for a total value of $337,462.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 393,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,602,868.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,599 shares of company stock valued at $769,650. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Axcelis Technologies
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.1% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,156,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $312,269,000 after purchasing an additional 56,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,957,174 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $179,085,000 after purchasing an additional 180,011 shares in the last quarter. Seinvest Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Sevest Management LLC now owns 1,786,434 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $141,771,000 after purchasing an additional 275,974 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,133,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $89,951,000 after purchasing an additional 450,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,132,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,594,000 after acquiring an additional 19,207 shares in the last quarter. 86.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %
ACLS opened at $129.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Axcelis Technologies has a 52 week low of $46.41 and a 52 week high of $132.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.21.
Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The semiconductor company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.25. Axcelis Technologies has a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business had revenue of $266.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ACLS. B. Riley boosted their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $113.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $100.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 28th. One equity research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.33.
About Axcelis Technologies
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Axcelis Technologies, Inc is engaged in the manufacture of capital equipment for the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry. It ion implantation systems product line includes high and medium current, and energy implanters. It also offers post-sales equipment service and support, such as spare parts, equipment upgrades, used equipment, maintenance services, and customer training.
Further Reading
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