Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Makes New Investment in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,145,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,645,000. JAT Capital Mgmt LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,470,000. Finally, CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,379,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 157,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,577. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,379,756.27. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,298 shares of company stock worth $497,701. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $22.11 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.81. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73 and a beta of 2.36. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $100.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 22.36% and a negative net margin of 38.61%. Analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. B. Riley raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

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.