Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,740,000 shares, a growth of 16.0% from the May 15th total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 547,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Tzu Yin Chiu sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $1,185,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,873 shares in the company, valued at $2,236,450.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Tzu Yin Chiu sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $1,185,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,873 shares in the company, valued at $2,236,450.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas A. Lawson sold 5,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $699,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,010. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 123,181 shares of company stock worth $17,592,020. 1.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 191 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Axcelis Technologies by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.47% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $170.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $139.59 and a 200 day moving average of $118.66. Axcelis Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $184.41.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The semiconductor company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.18. Axcelis Technologies has a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $254.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Axcelis Technologies’ quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equity analysts have recently weighed in on ACLS shares. The benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. William Blair started coverage on Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC cut Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.33.

About Axcelis Technologies

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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.

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