Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AAOI. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley raised Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of AAOI traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.83. The stock had a trading volume of 2,508,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,315,620. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $934.81 million, a P/E ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 2.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $14.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.06. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12-month low of $6.70 and a 12-month high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.37 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.31) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 11,426 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total transaction of $218,236.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,939,490. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total value of $46,120.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,533,157.86. This represents a 1.01% 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,253 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,246 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 1.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 61,017 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 25,529 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.