Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,420,000 shares, a decline of 11.9% from the December 15th total of 9,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.93, for a total transaction of $269,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,025.46. The trade was a 7.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 20,323 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.35, for a total transaction of $616,803.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 195,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,935,610.20. The trade was a 9.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,432,417 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $186,000. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 0.5 %

AAOI opened at $31.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 2.39. 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’s fifty day moving average is $34.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.12. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. B. Riley lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.