Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $1.44 Million Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 48.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,651 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 71,400 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $167,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $305,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at about $320,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 360.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,617 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 38,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,251,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAOI. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, TheStreet raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Che-Wei Lin bought 31,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.70 per share, for a total transaction of $398,399.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 220,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,795,689.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Che-Wei Lin acquired 31,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.70 per share, for a total transaction of $398,399.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 220,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,795,689.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin acquired 11,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.66 per share, with a total value of $149,134.80. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,218,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,421,905.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AAOI traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.85. 1,510,834 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,528,569. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.60 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.84.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $60.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.19 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 13.83% and a negative net margin of 25.75%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -0.2 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.