Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 4.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) dropped 4.2% on Monday . The company traded as low as $21.19 and last traded at $21.19. Approximately 4,342,390 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 4,180,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.95.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,756.27. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,298 shares of company stock valued at $497,701 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,429,418 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $89,548,000 after purchasing an additional 241,594 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $16,145,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 979,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,123,000 after purchasing an additional 70,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 192,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.