Raymond James Cuts Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target to $20.00

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Raymond James from $31.00 to $20.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Raymond James' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 87.62% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AAOI. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, March 14th. Northland Securities restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ AAOI traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $10.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,060,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,117,053. The company has a market capitalization of $531.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $18.26 and its 200 day moving average is $24.91.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.92 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,533,157.86. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,298 shares of company stock valued at $148,841. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,081 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 5,956 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 27.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,259 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $12,697,000 after buying an additional 192,308 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.