Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Short Interest Update

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,270,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the November 15th total of 9,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 8.5 %

NASDAQ AAOI opened at $32.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1-year low of $6.70 and a 1-year high of $44.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of -15.59 and a beta of 2.37.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.93, for a total value of $269,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,181,025.46. This represents a 7.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 20,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.35, for a total transaction 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 represents a 9.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,769 shares of company stock valued at $2,813,037. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at approximately $956,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $109,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 6,787 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth about $449,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 331,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 91,885 shares in the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAOI. Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

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.