Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AAOI. Northland Securities lifted their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 18.6%

Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $23.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.08 and a beta of 2.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.68.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $99.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 through this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.05, for a total value of $32,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 321,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,152,627.80. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,263 shares of company stock worth $726,570 over the last three months. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 60,348 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,035 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 131.5% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 12,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,645,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 125,131 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,612,000 after acquiring an additional 25,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 118,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after acquiring an additional 9,435 shares during the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.