Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) Shares Down 13% Following Insider Selling

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)’s stock price dropped 13% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $87.56 and last traded at $86.5720. Approximately 805,451 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 2,363,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.50.

Specifically, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 6,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total transaction of $714,153.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 169,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,773,623.57. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AEHR. William Blair raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aehr Test Systems from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Craig Hallum raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aehr Test Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Aehr Test Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of -222.75 and a beta of 3.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.62.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. Aehr Test Systems had a negative net margin of 25.23% and a negative return on equity of 7.15%. The company had revenue of $10.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.85 million. Analysts expect that Aehr Test Systems will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aehr Test Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Aehr Test Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 642,129 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,965,000 after acquiring an additional 189,117 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Aehr Test Systems by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,337,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,193,000 after buying an additional 49,243 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $407,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 485.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 78,340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 64,950 shares during the period. 69.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aehr Test Systems

Aehr Test Systems develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor test and burn-in equipment used by device manufacturers to ensure quality and reliability of integrated circuits. Its products are designed for wafer-level reliability assessment, functional test and stress screening of memory devices, system-on-chips, optical components and power semiconductors. By focusing on wafer-level burn-in and testing processes, the company helps reduce cost and improve yield for high-volume semiconductor production.

The company’s product portfolio includes FOX series wafer probe test and burn-in systems as well as ABTS burn-in ovens.