Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives “Buy” Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their buy rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

AAOI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.15 and a 200 day moving average of $24.81. 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 $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) 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 firm had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.92 million. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $290,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total value of $80,820.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,756.27. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,298 shares of company stock worth $497,701. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.