Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Sells $157,800.00 in Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total transaction of $157,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $37.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.08 and a 200-day moving average of $13.16. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.44 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $38.94.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $16,145,000. Shellback Capital LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $8,617,000. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 47.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,596,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,847,000 after buying an additional 515,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $6,470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.70.

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.