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

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

AAOI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.88.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 7.0 %

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $11.07 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $13.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.93. The company has a market cap of $428.74 million, a PE ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 2.12. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $1.60 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $191,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $167,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $367,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $409,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.