B. Riley Financial Cuts Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target to $12.00

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its price target cut by investment analysts at B. Riley Financial from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. B. Riley Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.61. 2,936,747 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,715,024. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $1.64 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The firm has a market cap of $410.93 million, a P/E ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 2.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $60.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.19 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 25.75% and a negative return on equity of 13.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin bought 11,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.66 per share, with a total value of $149,134.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at $15,421,905.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin bought 11,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.66 per share, for a total transaction of $149,134.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,218,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,421,905.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Che-Wei Lin purchased 31,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.70 per share, with a total value of $398,399.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 220,133 shares in the company, valued at $2,795,689.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at about $191,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth $305,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth $320,000. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth $367,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.