Applied Optoelectronics’ (AAOI) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their buy rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $36.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 39.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.73 and a beta of 2.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12-month low of $6.70 and a 12-month high of $44.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,379,756.27. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $290,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,576,577. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,298 shares of company stock worth $497,701. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.