Northland Securities Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Northland Securities in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $25.00. Northland Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AAOI. B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $32.39 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.45. Applied Optoelectronics has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.72 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.93, for a total value of $269,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,025.46. The trade was a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total value of $157,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 216,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,769 shares of company stock worth $3,165,737 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 6,787 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 5,956 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $109,000. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.