Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target Raised to $31.00

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its target price increased by Raymond James to $31.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective points to a potential upside of 40.41% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. B. Riley cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 8.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,724,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,490,686. Applied Optoelectronics has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -10.79 and a beta of 2.36.

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). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The business had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.92 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.72, for a total transaction of $126,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 212,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,731.88. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $1,281,201. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 25,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 895 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.