Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given New $50.00 Price Target at Northland Securities

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its price target boosted by Northland Securities to $50.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. Northland Securities currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 8.6%

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $15.47 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $6.70 and a 12 month high of $44.50. The firm has a market cap of $859.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 2.64. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $15.02 and its 200-day moving average is $23.37.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.37 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 145.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 278,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,314,728.52. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,157.86. This represents a 1.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,263 shares of company stock worth $740,590 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,779,563 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,666,000 after purchasing an additional 350,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 979,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,123,000 after purchasing an additional 70,210 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 182.7% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 976,520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,990,000 after purchasing an additional 631,128 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,455,000 after purchasing an additional 115,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $31,331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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.