Share Repurchase Plan Authorized by Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS)

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair downgraded shares of Axcelis Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axcelis Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Axcelis Technologies stock traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.42. 903,324 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,284. 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 market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.62. Axcelis Technologies has a 12-month low of $53.67 and a 12-month high of $158.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.35.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.29. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 19.75%. Equities research analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.55 EPS for the current 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.