Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Price Down 6.1% – What’s Next?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price fell 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $16.04 and last traded at $16.07. 1,508,545 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 3,298,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AAOI. Raymond James dropped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 3.5%

The firm has a market cap of $934.81 million, a P/E ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 2.64. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.61 and a 200 day moving average of $24.06.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $99.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.37 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 11,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $218,236.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 153,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,939,490. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,263 shares of company stock valued at $740,590 over the last 90 days. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 61,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter valued at about $7,455,000. Twin Tree Management LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 15,573.4% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 10,031 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 9,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter valued at about $77,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.