Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Short Interest Up 26.2% in May

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the May 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 516,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, B. Riley reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 1.7 %

ACLS opened at $138.73 on Monday. Axcelis Technologies has a 1-year low of $93.77 and a 1-year high of $201.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.78.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The semiconductor company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.31. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 22.16% and a return on equity of 30.22%. The business had revenue of $252.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.55 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.42, for a total transaction of $137,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,792,565.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,105,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in Axcelis Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $37,871,000. Jackson Square Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $42,892,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,304,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $480,040,000 after acquiring an additional 263,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,425,000. Institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

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.