Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Price

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its price objective upped by Raymond James to $31.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. Raymond James currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 9.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $21.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.61 and a beta of 2.36. 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 has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $100.27 million for 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 167,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,918,764.51. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of Applied Optoelectronics 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,379,756.27. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $1,281,201. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at $16,145,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $27,645,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $23,354,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.