Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Lifted to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley lowered their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $13.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $534.99 million, a PE ratio of -7.55 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.93. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $6.66 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 19.82% and a negative net margin of 34.84%. The firm had revenue of $43.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 132,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,996,473.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,501,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $16,498,000 after purchasing an additional 845,223 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,089,000 after buying an additional 442,277 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $956,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at $1,123,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.