Kennedy Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Aehr Test Systems $AEHR

Key Points

• Kennedy Capital Management increased its Aehr Test Systems stake by 40.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 103,623 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 360,234 shares worth about $7.27 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding about 69.69% of Aehr Test Systems shares. Several firms, including Vanguard, Geode Capital, and Halter Ferguson Financial, also boosted their positions.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including the vice president and a director, with 375,005 shares sold by insiders over the last three months. Despite that, Aehr Test Systems stock was trading up 6.8% at $115.88, near its 52-week high of $126.62.

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Free Report) by 40.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 360,234 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 103,623 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.18% of Aehr Test Systems worth $7,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,337,433 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $47,193,000 after purchasing an additional 49,243 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,920,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 685,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,846,000 after purchasing an additional 5,591 shares during the period. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. boosted its position in Aehr Test Systems by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 642,129 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $12,965,000 after buying an additional 189,117 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Aehr Test Systems by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 624,085 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $12,600,000 after buying an additional 21,982 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Alistair N. Sporck sold 2,000 shares of Aehr Test Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $187,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,177 shares in the company, valued at $484,049.50. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 6,819 shares of Aehr Test Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total transaction of $714,153.87. Following the sale, the director owned 169,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,773,623.57. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 375,005 shares of company stock worth $28,656,178. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aehr Test Systems Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of AEHR opened at $115.88 on Tuesday. Aehr Test Systems has a twelve month low of $10.89 and a twelve month high of $126.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $90.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -304.95 and a beta of 3.18.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $10.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 million. On average, analysts predict that Aehr Test Systems will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AEHR shares. Craig Hallum raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. William Blair raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aehr Test Systems has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Aehr Test Systems Profile

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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