Voloridge Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 353,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,035,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at $31,331,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,645,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $23,354,000. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $13,379,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,058.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 339,550 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,516,000 after purchasing an additional 310,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $46,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,157.86. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 23,837 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $454,333.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 278,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,314,728.52. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,263 shares of company stock valued at $740,590. Corporate insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $17.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.67. The company has a market cap of $992.59 million, a P/E ratio of -8.68 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $44.50.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. The company had revenue of $99.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 145.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics 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.