Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,576,577. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.03. 2,355,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,610,087. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.96. 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 capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 2.39. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 36,138 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,019,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $353,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock 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, January 3rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, B. Riley lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

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.