Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $522,000 Position in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,478 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 29,565 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 2.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,857 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 354 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,843 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Advanced Energy Industries Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of AEIS stock traded up $4.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $150.82. 470,329 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,263. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $134.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.84. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.01 and a 1-year high of $152.23.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The electronics maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $441.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.32 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Advanced Energy Industries's payout ratio is 18.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AEIS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 price objective on Advanced Energy Industries and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Paul R. Oldham sold 1,173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total transaction of $154,003.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,006 shares in the company, valued at $4,070,777.74. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Donaghey sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,544,060. This trade represents a 15.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.