Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 9.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) fell 9.9% on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $47.06 and last traded at $46.9170. Approximately 6,968,053 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 10,632,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $92.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.2%

The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.74 and its 200-day moving average is $113.47. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.82 and a beta of 4.04.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $269.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.11 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 4.39% and a negative return on equity of 0.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 127.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Hung-Lun Chang sold 32,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $3,545,676.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 249,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,472,707.96. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total value of $411,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 363,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,359,092.16. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,172 shares of company stock valued at $5,985,036. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 20,427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 596 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Polaris Financial Partners bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, EFG International AG bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products used to transmit data over cable, telecommunications and data center networks. Its offerings include optical transceivers and other optical components and equipment. The company serves customers in markets including broadband access, telecommunications and data centers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics has operations in the United States and Asia and serves customers internationally.