Jackson Square Partners LLC Sells 56,757 Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Jackson Square Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 186,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 56,757 shares during the period. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $13,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 51.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 263,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,610,000 after acquiring an additional 89,453 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in Axcelis Technologies by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,036,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,393,000 after buying an additional 348,504 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Axcelis Technologies by 157.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,094 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 6,782 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 101.4% in the third quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 82,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,702,000 after buying an additional 41,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,304,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACLS. William Blair cut Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 3.0 %

ACLS opened at $57.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.19 and a 200-day moving average of $77.39. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.67 and a fifty-two week high of $158.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 21.02%. On average, equities analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Axcelis Technologies 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.