Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $27.50. The stock had previously closed at $17.90, but opened at $19.50. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $22.30, with a volume of 4,221,311 shares changing hands.

AAOI has been the topic of several other reports. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,473.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 36,138 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $1,319,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth $956,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the first quarter worth $1,123,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -14.53 and a beta of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.79.

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.