Empowered Funds LLC Sells 32,392 Shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 32,392 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.31% of AXT worth $335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AXT by 833.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 272,416 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 243,226 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 347,200 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth $468,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at $122,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of AXT from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.30.

AXT Stock Up 4.6 %

NASDAQ AXTI opened at $2.06 on Tuesday. AXT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.73 and a twelve month high of $5.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.30 and its 200 day moving average is $2.88. The company has a market cap of $92.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 2.22.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $23.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.98 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 4.58% and a negative net margin of 10.73%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AXT, Inc. will post -0.22 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.