Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells $352,700.00 in Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 167,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,918,764.51. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $37.82 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 2.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, B. Riley cut 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.20.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,145,000. Shellback Capital LP purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $8,617,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,596,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,847,000 after acquiring an additional 515,489 shares during the period. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,470,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.