Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,321 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,340 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.10% of Advanced Energy Industries worth $4,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,019 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 989 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

AEIS opened at $95.31 on Tuesday. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.12 and a twelve month high of $132.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.42, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.65, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.50.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.03). Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 3.66%. Equities research analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is currently 27.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total transaction of $2,155,077.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,333.42. This trade represents a 49.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total transaction of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,760.04. This trade represents a 31.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.56.

Advanced Energy Industries Company Profile

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.