Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Short Interest Up 18.3% in January

by anlene
February 14, 2023

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,360,000 shares, a growth of 18.3% from the January 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company were short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 452,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACLS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $113.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 28th. Benchmarks upped their price target on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $103.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $105.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Axcelis Technologies from $100.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.40.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

ACLS opened at $128.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Axcelis Technologies has a 1 year low of $46.41 and a 1 year high of $128.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 1.76.

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Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) last announced 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 return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 19.90%. 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 previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In other Axcelis Technologies news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $26,782.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,604,587.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mary G. Puma sold 4,202 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $31,602,868.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible via this link. Also, EVP Douglas A. Lawson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.52, for a total value of $26,782.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,038 shares in the company, valued at $2,604,587.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,747 shares of company stock worth $1,099,238 in the last 90 days. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Axcelis Technologies in the second quarter worth $2,958,000. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 381.2% in the third quarter. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 26,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 21,231 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 15,729 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 6,225 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.47% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Company Profile

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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.