Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.38, but opened at $15.49. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $15.82, with a volume of 370,966 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $771.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.51 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.38.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,298 shares of company stock worth $543,821 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $16,145,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,645,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,354,000. Finally, CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,379,000. 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.