Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading 7.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) rose 7.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $47.50 and last traded at $50.4460. Approximately 249,398 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 4,918,173 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAOI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northland Securities set a $45.00 price objective on Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -16.05 and a beta of 3.32.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $587,573.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 290,050 shares in the company, valued at $14,575,012.50. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $876,319.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 111,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,602,132.71. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,080,367. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures high-speed fiber-optic networking products designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of data centers, telecommunications carriers and internet content providers. The company’s core offerings include pluggable optical transceiver modules, transponders and optical components that enable data transmission at rates ranging from 1G to 400G. These products are used to facilitate long-haul, metro and intra-data center connectivity, addressing the need for scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient solutions in modern network infrastructures.

The company’s product portfolio spans small-form factor pluggable modules such as SFP+, QSFP+ and QSFP28 units, as well as more advanced form factors like CFP2 and OSFP for ultra-high-speed applications.