Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 241,594 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,429,418 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 241,594 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.18% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $89,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $262,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $542,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 100,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 10,884 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 25,529 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $511,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at $4,576,577. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,379,756.27. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,298 shares of company stock worth $543,821. Corporate insiders own 4.96% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAOI. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, March 14th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.45. 700,402 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,097,221. The firm has a market capitalization of $570.59 million, a P/E ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 2.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.70 and a 1-year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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.