Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Rating Increased to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $33.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.17 and a beta of 2.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.69. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 9,790 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $391,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 165,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,160. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.93, for a total transaction of $269,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares in the company, valued at $3,181,025.46. The trade was a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,769 shares of company stock worth $3,432,417. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 5,956 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth $118,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $186,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.