Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price shot up 4.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.45 and last traded at $35.61. 861,789 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 2,739,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price 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. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.8 %

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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.34. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.53 and a beta of 2.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Richard B. Black sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 167,813 shares in the company, valued at $5,918,764.51. This trade represents a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 20,323 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.35, for a total value of $616,803.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,935,610.20. This trade represents a 9.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,737 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $19,019,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $353,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.