Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on AEHR. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Aehr Test Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Aehr Test Systems in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aehr Test Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.50.

Aehr Test Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ AEHR opened at $81.58 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of -339.90 and a beta of 3.06. Aehr Test Systems has a 1 year low of $18.70 and a 1 year high of $147.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alberto Salamone sold 9,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.72, for a total transaction of $1,235,307.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,386.64. This represents a 18.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Adil Engineer sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $1,965,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,154,926.54. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,475 shares of company stock valued at $13,827,160. 4.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the second quarter worth about $255,476,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aehr Test Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,433,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Aehr Test Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,004,000. Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its position in Aehr Test Systems by 99.9% during the 4th quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 552,506 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,155,000 after purchasing an additional 276,160 shares during the period. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,072,000. 69.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aehr Test Systems

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR) develops and manufactures semiconductor test and burn-in equipment used to verify the reliability and performance of integrated circuits, wafers and packaged devices. Its systems are designed to identify defects and reliability issues before semiconductor products are shipped to customers.

The company’s product portfolio includes the FOX family of test and burn-in systems, along with wafer-level and packaged-device solutions such as WaferPak contactors and DiePak carriers.