Oberweis Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Oberweis Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 495,815 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 370,100 shares during the period. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. owned about 1.06% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $18,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,259 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 192,308 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 15,507 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 909,559 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $13,018,000 after buying an additional 60,241 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,731,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,533,157.86. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of AAOI traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.00. 1,067,648 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,140,547. The stock has a market cap of $719.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 2.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.53 and a 200-day moving average of $24.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The firm had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.92 million. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAOI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.40.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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.