Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.00.

AAOI has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. B. Riley raised Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total transaction of $454,333.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 278,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,314,728.52. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock valued at $740,590 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 243.9% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter worth $66,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $15.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $859.27 million, a P/E ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 2.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $15.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.28. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. 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 (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.37 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.31) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

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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