Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Rosenblatt Securities Analyst Says

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its price target upped by Rosenblatt Securities from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

AAOI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Northland Securities increased their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $27.77 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.19 and a beta of 2.64.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 15.40% and a negative net margin of 55.98%. The company had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.37 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total transaction of $454,333.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 278,842 shares in the company, valued at $5,314,728.52. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin bought 21,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.22 per share, for a total transaction of $386,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,659,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,227,435.50. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock worth $726,570 over the last quarter. 4.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 14.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,779,563 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,666,000 after buying an additional 350,145 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 979,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,123,000 after acquiring an additional 70,210 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 182.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,990,000 after acquiring an additional 631,128 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,455,000 after acquiring an additional 115,853 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $31,331,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently 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.