Aehr Test Systems $AEHR Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its Aehr Test Systems stake by 24% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,323 shares and ending with 42,102 shares worth about $850,000.
• Other institutional investors were active as well, with firms like Halter Ferguson Financial, UBS Group, and Vanguard increasing positions; overall, institutional ownership stands at 69.69%.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: the stock has a consensus Hold rating and a $68 price target, while the shares recently traded at $92.33 after strong recent appreciation.

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Free Report) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,102 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,323 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.14% of Aehr Test Systems worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. increased its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 642,129 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $12,965,000 after purchasing an additional 189,117 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 243,129 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,909,000 after buying an additional 87,014 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aehr Test Systems by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,337,433 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,193,000 after buying an additional 49,243 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $407,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new stake in Aehr Test Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AEHR. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Craig Hallum raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aehr Test Systems from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Aehr Test Systems from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Aehr Test Systems from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Aehr Test Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AEHR stock opened at $92.33 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $75.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.42. Aehr Test Systems has a 52 week low of $9.38 and a 52 week high of $112.00. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of -242.97 and a beta of 3.18.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $10.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.85 million. Equities research analysts expect that Aehr Test Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 6,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $714,153.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 169,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,773,623.57. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alberto Salamone sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $1,343,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,645,149.25. The trade was a 19.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 375,005 shares of company stock valued at $28,656,178. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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