Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Up 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price shot up 7.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $22.29 and last traded at $22.04. 1,042,911 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 4,114,351 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAOI. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. B. Riley raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 2.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.57 and a beta of 2.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.27. 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 (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million for 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 forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,298 shares of company stock worth $543,821. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,145,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at $27,645,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,354,000. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $6,470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.