Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Bought by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% during the first quarter, owning approximately 876,543 shares valued at $13.46 million.
• CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 21,200 shares of the company at an average price of $18.22, boosting his ownership to roughly $30.23 million.
• Applied Optoelectronics reported a revenue increase of 145.5% year-over-year, with quarterly earnings of ($0.02) EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 115,853 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.58% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $13,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,253 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 4.4% in the 4th 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. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 21,200 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.22 per share, with a total value of $386,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,659,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,227,435.50. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 278,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,314,728.52. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,263 shares of company stock worth $787,050 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.13. 4,186,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,327,300. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.03 and a beta of 2.78.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 15.40% and a negative net margin of 55.98%. The firm had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS. The company's revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.00.

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.