Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given New $12.00 Price Target at B. Riley Financial

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

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

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 0.7 %

AAOI stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,936,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,715,024. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.06. The firm has a market cap of $410.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 2.12. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52-week low of $1.64 and a 52-week high of $24.75. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 25.75% and a negative return on equity of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $60.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

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

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,559,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,716,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,436,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,251,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $3,010,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by 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.