Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. $ACLS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,268 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 20,409 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $18,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,659,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $115,648,000 after purchasing an additional 518,968 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 6.0% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,610,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,234,000 after buying an additional 91,788 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.1% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 852,296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $59,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,230 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 845,911 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,952,000 after acquiring an additional 19,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 635,393 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,560,000 after acquiring an additional 44,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, Director Jorge Titinger sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.05, for a total transaction of $172,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,395.85. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gerald M. Blumenstock sold 3,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.46, for a total transaction of $271,421.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $1,669,413.06. This trade represents a 13.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Axcelis Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.25.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 5.6%

NASDAQ ACLS opened at $86.08 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 4.95. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.77. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.40 and a one year high of $102.93.

Axcelis Technologies Company Profile

Axcelis Technologies, Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of ion implantation and cleaning equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The company specializes in high-current, medium-current and high-energy ion implantation systems, which are critical for introducing precisely controlled dopants into silicon wafers. Axcelis also offers plasma-based cleaning and dry strip tools that support advanced process nodes in logic, memory and power device manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses single-wafer and multi-wafer cluster tools designed to deliver high throughput, accuracy and uniformity for semiconductor process steps.