Brokerages Set Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) PT at $27.60

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.40.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 157,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,756.27. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,298 shares of company stock valued at $850,401 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,145,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at $27,645,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $23,354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $15.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.62. The stock has a market cap of $748.24 million, a PE ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 2.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced 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). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The firm had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS 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.