Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Rating Increased to Sell at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $18.97 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.60 and a 200-day moving average of $11.13. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1 year low of $6.66 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $738.08 million, a P/E ratio of -10.42 and a beta of 1.96.

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

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 132,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,996,473.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,089,000 after purchasing an additional 442,277 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,439,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,950,000 after purchasing an additional 88,281 shares in the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 308,172 shares in the last quarter. Shellback Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $8,617,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $16,498,000 after acquiring an additional 845,223 shares in the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.