Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. $ACLS

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 10,177 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Axcelis Technologies were worth $19,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Axcelis Technologies by 2,290.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,059 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 8,680 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 123.4% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 41,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,854,000 after acquiring an additional 22,874 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 6.6% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 7,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 237.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,596 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 6,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 93.8% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ACLS opened at $143.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 44.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.85. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.64 and a twelve month high of $193.78.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $198.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.03 million. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 12.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.900- EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $130.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research raised Axcelis Technologies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Axcelis Technologies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised Axcelis Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axcelis Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, Director Gregory B. Graves sold 3,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.61, for a total value of $456,692.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,031.53. This trade represents a 37.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Greg Redinbo sold 2,883 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.85, for a total value of $463,730.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,797,029.55. This trade represents a 8.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,795 shares of company stock worth $5,344,383. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About Axcelis Technologies

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.