Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Earns Outperform Rating from Northland Securities

Northland Securities restated their outperform rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Northland Securities currently has a $40.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $25.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AAOI. Raymond James boosted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley downgraded shares of 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

AAOI opened at $37.82 on Wednesday. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.43 and its 200-day moving average is $16.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 2.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value 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. This represents a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 20,323 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.35, for a total transaction of $616,803.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 195,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,935,610.20. This trade represents a 9.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,737. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $956,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 6,787 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $449,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 38.4% in the second quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 331,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 91,885 shares during the period. 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.