Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 633,600 Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 633,600 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $23,354,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.35% of Applied Optoelectronics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $771,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,081,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,058.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 339,550 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,516,000 after buying an additional 310,243 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 400,195 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,751,000 after buying an additional 73,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,333 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded down $1.18 on Wednesday, hitting $19.11. 5,739,375 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,233,705. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.28 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 21,200 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.22 per share, for a total transaction of $386,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,659,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,227,435.50. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,837 shares of company stock worth $522,353. Insiders own 4.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. B. Riley raised shares of 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. Raymond James lowered 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. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

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.