Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Sells $268,440.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock for a total value of $268,440, reducing his ownership by 3.87%.
• The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the latest quarter, missing expectations and indicating a 137.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied ratings on the stock, with a target price ranging from $15.00 to $34.00, reflecting differing sentiments about its future performance.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 12,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $268,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 298,477 shares in the company, valued at $6,676,930.49. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

AAOI stock traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.36. 4,202,932 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,415,236. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.65 and a beta of 2.72. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.22 and a 52-week high of $44.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.33.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.60% and a negative net margin of 42.29%. The business had revenue of $102.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.28) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 137.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $370,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,455,000 after buying an additional 115,853 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 31.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 40,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,058.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 339,550 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $12,516,000 after purchasing an additional 310,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 182.7% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,990,000 after purchasing an additional 631,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, July 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $25.00 price objective on Applied Optoelectronics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.20.

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.

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