Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given Buy Rating at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley Financial restated a neutral rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. B. Riley cut their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 7.2 %

AAOI stock opened at $17.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.04. The company has a market cap of $694.90 million, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.64. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.66 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 19.82% and a negative net margin of 34.84%. The company had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,996,473.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Shellback Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $8,617,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth about $118,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 36,138 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 550.5% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 411,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after purchasing an additional 347,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.