Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $16.32, but opened at $17.65. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $19.07, with a volume of 5,595,810 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. Raymond James dropped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, B. Riley raised Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three 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 $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $939.80 million, a P/E ratio of -8.21 and a beta of 2.64.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $99.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.37 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. The business's revenue was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total transaction of $454,333.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 278,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,314,728.52. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 11,426 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $218,236.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 153,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,939,490. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock worth $740,590 over the last ninety days. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,645,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,354,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 182.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,990,000 after acquiring an additional 631,128 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,455,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.