EAM Investors LLC Makes New $3.54 Million Investment in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

EAM Investors LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 96,135 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,544,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 1.8 %

AAOI stock opened at $11.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.39 and its 200 day moving average is $25.06. The stock has a market cap of $570.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.70 and a 1-year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 8,298 shares of company stock valued at $253,821 over the last 90 days. 4.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.