Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells 9,790 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 9,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $391,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 165,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,160. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $34.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.89. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of -16.74 and a beta of 2.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.70.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,089,000 after purchasing an additional 442,277 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,138 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,019,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $956,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company 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.