Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Sells 2,298 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 2,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $80,820.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 209,831 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,756.27. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $0.80 on Thursday, hitting $32.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,826,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,946,658. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.78 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 50 day moving average price is $34.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.69. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.70 and a twelve month high of $44.50.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Affinity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,965,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at $12,731,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $353,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 15,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 909,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,018,000 after purchasing an additional 60,241 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAOI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Northland Securities reissued 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. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. B. Riley lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

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.