Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAOI. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.88.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $10.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $408.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.92 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $1.64 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.06.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $60.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.19 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 13.83% and a negative net margin of 25.75%. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $191,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $167,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at 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.