California State Teachers Retirement System Has $1.34 Million Stock Position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,471 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $1,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,429,418 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $89,548,000 after purchasing an additional 241,594 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 979,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,123,000 after buying an additional 70,210 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $27,645,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $23,354,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAOI. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $16.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The stock has a market cap of $937.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 2.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.63 and its 200 day moving average is $23.76.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The company had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 278,842 shares in the company, valued at $5,314,728.52. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,533,157.86. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock worth $740,590 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.50% 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.