Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 183.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,089 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 26,579 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Applied Optoelectronics were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $10.66 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $531.41 million, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 2.57.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,157.86. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.60.

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.