Royce & Associates LP Lowers Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 52.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 760,690 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 835,855 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.62% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $28,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $1,109,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $19,019,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $353,000. Affinity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $7,965,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 192,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.72, for a total value of $126,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 212,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,728,731.88. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,298 shares of company stock worth $497,701. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

AAOI stock opened at $22.11 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73 and a beta of 2.36. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) 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). The company had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.