Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 21,575 Shares of Aehr Test Systems $AEHR

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 21,575 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Aehr Test Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the second quarter valued at about $255,476,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 14.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 712,926 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,484,000 after buying an additional 89,620 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,433,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,004,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 56.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 238,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,906,000 after buying an additional 85,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AEHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Aehr Test Systems from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Oppenheimer began coverage on Aehr Test Systems in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Aehr Test Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aehr Test Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.75.

Aehr Test Systems Stock Up 10.4%

Aehr Test Systems stock opened at $65.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.97. Aehr Test Systems has a twelve month low of $18.70 and a twelve month high of $147.40. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 1,644.50 and a beta of 3.36.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.17. Aehr Test Systems had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 1.76%. The firm had revenue of $33.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.53 million.

Insider Activity at Aehr Test Systems

In other news, Director Rhea J. Posedel sold 5,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $836,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 381,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,478,460. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.03, for a total value of $758,271.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 140,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,712,931.01. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Aehr Test Systems Company Profile

Aehr Test Systems designs, manufactures and markets semiconductor test and burn-in equipment and related products. Its systems are used to test devices at the wafer, die and packaged-chip stages of production. The company’s offerings include FOX series test and burn-in systems, WaferPak wafer-level contactors and DiePak carriers. These products support testing for applications such as silicon carbide power semiconductors, silicon photonics and other devices used in automotive, computing and communications markets.