Northern Trust Corp Grows Position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400,195 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,112 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.85% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $14,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,507 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,731,000. Affinity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,965,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 60,348 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,035 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, B. Riley raised Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,533,157.86. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 278,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 39,263 shares of company stock worth $740,590 in the last 90 days. 4.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

NASDAQ AAOI opened at $18.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.58. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.16 and a beta of 2.55. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $99.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.31) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue for the quarter was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.