Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 19.1% – Time to Sell?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price dropped 19.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.30 and last traded at $12.91. Approximately 4,089,600 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 2,986,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 15.8 %

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 $22.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.22. The firm has a market cap of $538.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 2.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The firm had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total value of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,298 shares of company stock worth $543,821. 4.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.