Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Rating Increased to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AAOI. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 0.2 %

Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,485,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,459,632. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $12.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.19. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $6.66 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The company has a market capitalization of $739.25 million, a PE ratio of -10.44 and a beta of 1.96.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 19.82% and a negative net margin of 34.84%. The business had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Shellback Capital LP bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,617,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $16,498,000 after acquiring an additional 845,223 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,089,000 after acquiring an additional 442,277 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 550.5% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 411,054 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 347,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,957 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 308,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

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.