Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 4.9% After Insider Selling

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares traded down 4.9% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $14.04 and last traded at $14.09. 1,110,780 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 2,437,095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.81.

Specifically, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,996,473.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAOI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 7.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.62 and its 200 day moving average is $10.97. The company has a market capitalization of $534.40 million, a PE ratio of -7.55 and a beta of 1.96.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 34.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $409,000. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $2,311,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $16,498,000 after purchasing an additional 845,223 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,501,000. Finally, CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 831,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,520,000 after purchasing an additional 194,000 shares during the period. 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.