Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $758,000 in Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 67,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $758,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RiverPark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aehr Test Systems by 360.8% during the 1st quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the first quarter worth $109,000. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Aehr Test Systems in the second quarter valued at $131,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 6.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard T. Slayen acquired 20,000 shares of Aehr Test Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.50 per share, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 220,714 shares in the company, valued at $3,421,067. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Fariba Danesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.59, for a total transaction of $185,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,390 shares in the company, valued at $304,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard T. Slayen purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.50 per share, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 220,714 shares in the company, valued at $3,421,067. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aehr Test Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEHR opened at $12.94 on Friday. Aehr Test Systems has a 12 month low of $9.83 and a 12 month high of $51.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.39 million, a P/E ratio of 24.89 and a beta of 2.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.41.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.70. Aehr Test Systems had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 50.07%. The business had revenue of $16.60 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aehr Test Systems will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum raised Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th.

Aehr Test Systems Profile

Aehr Test Systems provides test solutions for testing, burning-in, and semiconductor devices in wafer level, singulated die, and package part form, and installed systems worldwide. Its product portfolio includes FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems that are full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems that can test, burn-in, and stabilize range of devices, including silicon carbide-based and other power semiconductors, 2D and 3D sensors used in mobile phones, tablets and other computing devices, memory semiconductors, processors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and photonics and integrated optical devices.