Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Has $2.89 Million Holdings in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP lowered its stake in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP owned about 0.07% of Advanced Energy Industries worth $2,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEIS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $68,949,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 774,586 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $89,565,000 after purchasing an additional 138,814 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,864,000. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 240.5% in the 4th quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 115,668 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 81,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,913,669 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $568,168,000 after purchasing an additional 69,908 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (down from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $124.67.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEIS traded up $2.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $112.48. The company had a trading volume of 105,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,776. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a current ratio of 4.42. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.01 and a twelve month high of $132.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $98.13 and its 200-day moving average is $110.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 78.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.50.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.36 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business's revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 26th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Advanced Energy Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.62%.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total value of $206,992.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total transaction of $2,155,077.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,212,333.42. This represents a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.