Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires New Stake in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,823 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AEIS. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 535.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 354 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $74,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,023 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AEIS. Citigroup raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.56.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Up 19.3 %

NASDAQ:AEIS opened at $95.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.42, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.56 and a 200-day moving average of $111.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 66.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.01 and a 52 week high of $132.16.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 EPS 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 issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 27.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total value of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,760.04. This represents a 31.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 transaction of $2,155,077.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.