Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Falls 5.6% – Should You Sell?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares were down 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $47.28 and last traded at $49.89. 10,615,012 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 10,688,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAOI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Northland Securities upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $92.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.6%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of -116.02 and a beta of 4.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 4.39% and a negative return on equity of 0.17%. The business had revenue of $269.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 127.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Hung-Lun Chang sold 32,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $3,545,676.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 249,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,472,707.96. The trade was a 11.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $886,380.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 377,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,767,779.54. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,172 shares of company stock worth $5,985,036. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $955,672,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 566,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $56,271,000 after acquiring an additional 62,706 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,817,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,712,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,567,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products used to transmit data over cable, telecommunications and data center networks. Its offerings include optical transceivers and other optical components and equipment. The company serves customers in markets including broadband access, telecommunications and data centers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics has operations in the United States and Asia and serves customers internationally.