New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $461,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 131.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Applied Optoelectronics were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,319,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth approximately $186,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at approximately $780,000. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 47.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,596,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,847,000 after purchasing an additional 515,489 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,814 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,756.27. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,298 shares of company stock valued at $850,401 in the last 90 days. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $18.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.95 and a 200-day moving average of $24.31. The company has a market capitalization of $850.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.81 and a beta of 2.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Optoelectronics 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.