Analysts Set Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) PT at $16.88

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.88.

AAOI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 8.2 %

Shares of AAOI opened at $11.13 on Tuesday. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $1.60 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The firm has a market cap of $427.39 million, a P/E ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 25.75% and a negative return on equity of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $60.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin bought 11,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.66 per share, with a total value of $149,134.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,421,905.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin bought 11,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.66 per share, with a total value of $149,134.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,421,905.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Che-Wei Lin bought 31,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.70 per share, for a total transaction of $398,399.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 220,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,795,689.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,498,000 after purchasing an additional 845,223 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 380.6% during the fourth quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 637,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,311,000 after purchasing an additional 504,610 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $9,716,000. Acuitas Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $3,010,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $1,559,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.