Northland Securities Reiterates Outperform Rating for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Northland Securities reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their prior target price of $25.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on AAOI. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.97. 5,169,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,748,017. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.49 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total transaction of $157,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $430,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 223,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,630,017.04. This represents a 4.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,769 shares of company stock worth $3,165,737 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 36,138 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $19,019,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $353,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.