Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its price target upped by Raymond James from $17.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAOI. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 16.8 %

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $37.82 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 2.37. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 20,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 195,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,935,610.20. This represents a 9.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 167,813 shares in the company, valued at $5,918,764.51. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,769 shares of company stock worth $3,165,737 over the last three months. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 36,138 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,019,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $353,000. Hedge funds and other 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.