Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading 4.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s share price rose 4.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.21 and last traded at $18.17. 295,952 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,442,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Raymond James raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley lowered their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 8.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $732.25 million, a PE ratio of -10.26 and a beta of 1.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.08.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 132,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,473.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Shellback Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $8,617,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 845,223 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,089,000 after buying an additional 442,277 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 550.5% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 411,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after buying an additional 347,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 308,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.