Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $15.00. B. Riley currently has a neutral rating on the stock. 9,250,403 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 113% from the previous session's volume of 4,347,026 shares.The stock last traded at $21.39 and had previously closed at $22.33.

• Applied Optoelectronics earnings dumper, pain now for gain later?

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, July 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.50.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Applied Optoelectronics

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

• Is the Microsoft Deal Driving Applied Optoelectronics 300% Gain?

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.46, for a total transaction of $82,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,733,268.56. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin purchased 21,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.22 per share, with a total value of $386,264.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,659,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,227,435.50. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,263 shares of company stock valued at $787,050. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 243.9% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 85.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 175.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 2.0%

• Applied Optoelectronics Stock is a Low Priced Photonics Play

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57 and a beta of 2.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.62.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.08). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 55.98% and a negative return on equity of 15.40%. The business had revenue of $102.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.28) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue was up 137.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

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.

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