Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,626 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 5,030 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.17% of Advanced Energy Industries worth $7,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEIS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $93,094,000 after acquiring an additional 15,030 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,848 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,920,000 after purchasing an additional 53,566 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,121 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $53,204,000 after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 403,679 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $42,483,000 after buying an additional 23,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 155,688 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $18,002,000 after buying an additional 29,969 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Energy Industries

In related news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total transaction of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,760.04. This trade represents a 31.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total value of $2,155,077.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,333.42. The trade was a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.56.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

Shares of AEIS opened at $105.53 on Wednesday. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.12 and a 1 year high of $132.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a current ratio of 4.42. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $116.21 and a 200-day moving average of $112.11.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.03). Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 8.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.97%.

About Advanced Energy Industries

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.