Short Interest in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Drops By 5.6%

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the August 15th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 630,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ACLS. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $130.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.33.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $99.77 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.59. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.58. Axcelis Technologies has a 52-week low of $93.77 and a 52-week high of $170.97.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $256.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.06 million. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 21.54% and a return on equity of 27.35%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Axcelis Technologies will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jorge Titinger sold 6,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $669,338.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,892.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 6.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,304,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $480,040,000 after buying an additional 263,604 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC lifted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 49.0% in the first quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC now owns 492,764 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,953,000 after buying an additional 162,040 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 7.7% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 455,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,816,000 after buying an additional 32,695 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 442,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,399,000 after buying an additional 3,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.