Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $60.60, but opened at $64.92. Aehr Test Systems shares last traded at $62.7370, with a volume of 496,507 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $175.00 target price for the company. Freedom Capital raised Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Aehr Test Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aehr Test Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

Aehr Test Systems Trading Up 6.2%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.22 and a 200-day moving average of $90.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -268.48 and a beta of 3.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aehr Test Systems news, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.30, for a total transaction of $2,166,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 146,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,851,546.10. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alberto Salamone sold 9,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.72, for a total transaction of $1,235,307.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,386.64. The trade was a 18.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 109,475 shares of company stock worth $13,827,160 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aehr Test Systems

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the second quarter valued at $255,476,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Aehr Test Systems by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 712,926 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,484,000 after acquiring an additional 89,620 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aehr Test Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,433,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Aehr Test Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,004,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 238,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,906,000 after acquiring an additional 85,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

About Aehr Test Systems

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR) develops and manufactures test and burn-in equipment used by semiconductor manufacturers. Its systems are designed to identify reliability issues and manufacturing defects in integrated circuits, including devices tested at the wafer, die, and packaged-device levels.

The company’s product portfolio includes the FOX family of test and burn-in systems, WaferPak wafer-level test fixtures, and DiePak carriers for testing individual semiconductor dies. These solutions are used in the production of silicon carbide power semiconductors, silicon photonics devices, memory products, and other advanced semiconductor components.

Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems serves semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers worldwide.