Rosenblatt Securities Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $36.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 62.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $22.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.15 and a 200-day moving average of $24.70. Applied Optoelectronics has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million for 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 anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 167,813 shares in the company, valued at $5,918,764.51. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total value of $80,820.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,756.27. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,298 shares of company stock valued at $850,401 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 858.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is owned by 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.