Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average of $14.90

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $14.90 and traded as low as $10.83. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $10.85, with a volume of 1,346,659 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAOI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.88.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $416.64 million, a P/E ratio of -6.10 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.90.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 25.75% and a negative return on equity of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $60.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 11,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.66 per share, for a total transaction of $149,134.80. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at $15,421,905.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Che-Wei Lin acquired 31,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.70 per share, for a total transaction of $398,399.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 220,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,795,689.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin acquired 11,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.66 per share, with a total value of $149,134.80. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at $15,421,905.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 875.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 631,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,757,000 after acquiring an additional 567,056 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at $1,950,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,501,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 845,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $2,311,000. 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.