Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.88 and last traded at $43.27, with a volume of 820790 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.70.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.89 and a beta of 1.96. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $21.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Richard B. Black sold 8,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total transaction of $303,463.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 13,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total value of $493,070.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 124,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,230. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,979 shares of company stock valued at $1,990,637. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,089,000 after buying an additional 442,277 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 47.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,596,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,847,000 after purchasing an additional 515,489 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $16,145,000. Finally, Shellback Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth $8,617,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.