Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $25.00 price target on Applied Optoelectronics and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, July 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. B. Riley upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $21.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.43 and a beta of 2.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52-week low of $7.60 and a 52-week high of $44.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.56.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.08). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 42.29% and a negative return on equity of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $102.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.28) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 137.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.46, for a total transaction of $82,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 318,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,733,268.56. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 278,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,314,728.52. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,263 shares of company stock worth $787,050. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,288.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 293,906 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,833,000 after buying an additional 272,741 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 183.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 41,089 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 26,579 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 979,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,123,000 after buying an additional 70,210 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,718.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,964 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 20,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% 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.