Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,700 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Advanced Energy Industries were worth $2,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,019 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 989 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Advanced Energy Industries

In related news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total transaction of $206,992.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,760.04. The trade was a 31.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total value of $2,155,077.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,333.42. This trade represents a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AEIS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.56.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

AEIS stock opened at $106.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.12 and a 1 year high of $132.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.42 and a quick ratio of 3.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $116.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.11.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.03). Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 3.66%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.97%.

About Advanced Energy Industries

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.