Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (NASDAQ:AOSL) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited (NASDAQ:AOSL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $42.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 1,227,723 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 85% from the previous session’s volume of 664,659 shares.The stock last traded at $38.37 and had previously closed at $41.72.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Alpha and Omega Semiconductor from $34.00 to $27.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Alpha and Omega Semiconductor from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Alpha and Omega Semiconductor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claudia Chen sold 5,623 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.27, for a total transaction of $288,291.21. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,346.44. This represents a 17.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bing Xue sold 1,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $43,470.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 115,368 shares in the company, valued at $4,037,880. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,124 shares of company stock worth $2,500,685. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOSL. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Alpha and Omega Semiconductor by 276.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 746 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Alpha and Omega Semiconductor by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor during the third quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor during the third quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.97% of the company’s stock.

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -59.48 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.56.

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (NASDAQ:AOSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.26). Alpha and Omega Semiconductor had a negative net margin of 2.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.19%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited will post -0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alpha and Omega Semiconductor

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited designs, develops, and supplies power semiconductor products for computing, consumer electronics, communication, and industrial applications in Hong Kong, China, South Korea, the United States, and internationally. It offers power discrete products, including metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET), SRFETs, XSFET, electrostatic discharge, protected MOSFETs, high and mid-voltage MOSFETs, and insulated gate bipolar transistors for use in smart phone chargers, battery packs, notebooks, desktop and servers, data centers, base stations, graphics card, game boxes, TVs, AC adapters, power supplies, motor control, power tools, E-vehicles, white goods and industrial motor drives, UPS systems, solar inverters, and industrial welding.