Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 177,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,556,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.38% of Applied Optoelectronics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $82,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% during 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 last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $186,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 24.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 15,862 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of AAOI opened at $20.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.92 and a beta of 2.36. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.13.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $100.27 million during 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,756.27. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value 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 a total of 18,298 shares of company stock valued at $543,821 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAOI. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.