Brokerages Set Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target at $13.75

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.75.

AAOI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Raymond James upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

AAOI opened at $16.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $670.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.59 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12-month low of $6.70 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.53.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $43.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.14 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 34.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,996,473.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,089,000 after acquiring an additional 442,277 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 36,138 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $956,000. Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter valued at $1,123,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 88.6% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 463,213 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after buying an additional 217,624 shares in the last quarter. 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.