White Pine Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI)

White Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) by 35.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 612,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,893 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in AXT were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,957,000 after acquiring an additional 21,973 shares during the period. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXTI. Craig Hallum upped their price target on AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. B. Riley upped their price target on AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.30.

AXT Price Performance

NASDAQ:AXTI traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2.97. 507,779 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,172,486. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3.98 and its 200-day moving average is $2.90. The stock has a market cap of $131.42 million, a P/E ratio of -6.91 and a beta of 2.24. AXT, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.89 and a 1-year high of $5.64.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.05. AXT had a negative return on equity of 7.80% and a negative net margin of 23.59%. The firm had revenue of $20.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.62 million. As a group, research analysts predict that AXT, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current 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.