Investors Purchase High Volume of Applied Optoelectronics Call Options (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 7,561 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 116% compared to the average daily volume of 3,494 call options.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter worth $46,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 6,787 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 13.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,055,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,090. The stock has a market capitalization of $618.25 million, a PE ratio of -8.28 and a beta of 1.96. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.66 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.28 and its 200-day moving average is $10.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 34.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $43.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAOI has been the subject of several recent research reports. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic networking products in the United States, Taiwan, and China. It offers optical modules, optical filters, lasers, laser components, subassemblies, transmitters and transceivers, turn-key equipment, headend, node, distribution equipment, and amplifiers.