Next Century Growth Investors LLC Boosts Stake in Aehr Test Systems $AEHR

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC nearly doubled its Aehr Test Systems stake in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 276,160 shares and bringing its total holdings to 552,506 shares worth about $11.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 69.69% of Aehr Test Systems’ shares, signaling substantial outside confidence in the company.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $68, while the company recently beat EPS expectations even though revenue came in below estimates.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its position in Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Free Report) by 99.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 552,506 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 276,160 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned 1.80% of Aehr Test Systems worth $11,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Aehr Test Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $377,000. UBS Group AG increased 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 valued at $4,909,000 after buying an additional 87,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Aehr Test Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $407,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Aehr Test Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEHR opened at $108.47 on Friday. Aehr Test Systems has a 52-week low of $10.89 and a 52-week high of $121.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -285.45 and a beta of 3.17.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.85 million. Aehr Test Systems had a negative net margin of 25.23% and a negative return on equity of 7.15%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aehr Test Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aehr Test Systems

In other news, insider Donald P. Richmond II sold 17,011 shares of Aehr Test Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $1,244,864.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 181,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,283,048.16. This trade represents a 8.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alberto Salamone sold 15,000 shares of Aehr Test Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total transaction of $1,343,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,645,149.25. The trade was a 19.22% decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by insiders.

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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