Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Up 10.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price traded up 10.5% during trading on Friday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $27.50 to $44.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Optoelectronics traded as high as $37.21 and last traded at $36.45. 576,550 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,720,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AAOI. B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director William H. Yeh sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $430,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 223,538 shares in the company, valued at $9,630,017.04. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total transaction of $157,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,821,031.24. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,769 shares of company stock worth $2,813,037 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 6,787 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $109,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 10.5 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of -17.69 and a beta of 2.37.

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.