Brokerages Set Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Price Target at $154.00

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $154.00.

ACLS has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair lowered shares of Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,233,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,310,000 after acquiring an additional 18,101 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,060,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,069,000 after purchasing an additional 290,678 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,393,000 after purchasing an additional 348,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $62,738,000 after purchasing an additional 23,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

ACLS opened at $50.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. Axcelis Technologies has a 1-year low of $47.23 and a 1-year high of $158.61. The company has a current ratio of 5.41, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Axcelis Technologies Company Profile

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.