New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 23,261 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 23,261 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of Axcelis Technologies worth $5,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ACLS. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,425,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,924,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $23,445,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 17.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $158,225,000 after acquiring an additional 141,372 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 32.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 413,478 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $67,418,000 after acquiring an additional 101,944 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Douglas A. Lawson acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $111.04 per share, for a total transaction of $55,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,713.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Friday. Benchmark reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised Axcelis Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $111.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.00 and a quick ratio of 2.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.24. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.77 and a 52-week high of $201.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.64.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.33. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 30.22% and a net margin of 22.16%. The firm had revenue of $252.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.