Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its target price increased by Raymond James from $17.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target indicates a potential upside of 3.12% from the stock’s previous close.

AAOI has been the topic of several other research reports. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 16.8 %

AAOI opened at $37.82 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.64. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total value of $157,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 132,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,996,473.42. This trade represents a 7.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,769 shares of company stock worth $3,165,737. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $353,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 15,507 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 909,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,018,000 after buying an additional 60,241 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,109,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.