Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 182.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 631,128 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.96% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $14,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the first quarter valued at $370,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 9,789.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,736 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 14,587 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,471 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at $5,068,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 78,959 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,910,000 after purchasing an additional 11,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,533,157.86. This represents a 1.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin acquired 21,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.22 per share, with a total value of $386,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,659,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,227,435.50. This represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock worth $740,590 in the last quarter. 4.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 8.6%

Shares of AAOI stock traded down $1.45 on Friday, hitting $15.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,960,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,417,729. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $859.27 million, a P/E ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 2.64. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $15.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.37.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.31) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Optoelectronics 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.