Brokerages Set Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Target Price at $18.70

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.70.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAOI. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 13.2 %

NASDAQ AAOI opened at $41.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.01 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.50 and a 200-day moving average of $14.11. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1-year low of $6.70 and a 1-year high of $43.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 13,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total value of $493,070.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 124,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,230. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 8,162 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total value of $303,463.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,979 shares of company stock worth $1,990,637 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at $353,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 15,507 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 909,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,018,000 after buying an additional 60,241 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $1,109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.