Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,638 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,666 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Advanced Energy Industries were worth $3,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEIS. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 535.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Advanced Energy Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,023 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 989 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock opened at $105.26 on Friday. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $89.12 and a 52-week high of $132.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.44 and a 200 day moving average of $112.11. The company has a quick ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total transaction of $206,992.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 this link. Also, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.56.

Advanced Energy Industries Profile

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.