Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark downgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. William Blair cut Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $59.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.28 and its 200 day moving average is $88.45. Axcelis Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $57.68 and a fifty-two week high of $158.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 4.45.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 24.16%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 189,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,245,000 after purchasing an additional 10,645 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 14,848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,396,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $307,158,000 after buying an additional 106,203 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,250,000 after buying an additional 16,152 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $454,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

About Axcelis Technologies

Axcelis Technologies, Inc designs, manufactures, and services ion implantation and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The company offers high energy, high current, and medium current implanters for various application requirements.