Voloridge Investment Management LLC Takes $13.04 Million Position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 353,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $13,035,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.75% of Applied Optoelectronics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 265.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 57,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 42,000 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 588,469 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $21,691,000 after buying an additional 55,863 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 235,049 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,664,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $423,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAOI. Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 4.0%

NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $0.71 on Thursday, reaching $16.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,305,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,267,815. The company has a market cap of $940.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.23 and a beta of 2.55. 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's fifty day moving average is $14.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.61. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.70 and a 12-month high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The firm's revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total value of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 11,426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 153,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,939,490. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. 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 three months. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.