Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Up 15.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 15.4% on Monday after Northland Securities raised their price target on the stock to $50.00. Northland Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Optoelectronics traded as high as $17.32 and last traded at $17.85. Approximately 1,043,429 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 3,419,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.47.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on AAOI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 11,426 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $218,236.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 153,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,939,490. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 21,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.22 per share, for a total transaction of $386,264.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,659,025 shares in the company, valued at $30,227,435.50. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,263 shares of company stock valued at $694,470. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,779,563 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,666,000 after purchasing an additional 350,145 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 70,210 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 182.7% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,990,000 after purchasing an additional 631,128 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,455,000 after purchasing an additional 115,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $996.02 million, a P/E ratio of -8.68 and a beta of 2.64. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $15.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business 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 firm's revenue was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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