Bamco Inc. NY Sells 149,357 Shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Free Report) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363,714 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 149,357 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 0.97% of Advanced Energy Industries worth $42,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AEIS. 4D Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter worth $2,602,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $335,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $623,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 457,759 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $52,931,000 after purchasing an additional 53,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 21.8% during the fourth 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. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEIS. Citigroup upped their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $124.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Energy Industries

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

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEIS traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.20. The stock had a trading volume of 265,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,995. 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 12-month low of $75.01 and a 12-month high of $132.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.29 and a 200-day moving average of $110.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.50.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

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

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.