Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Up 7.4% – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAOI. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Northland Securities set a $45.00 price target on Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. B. Riley Financial restated 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.80 and a beta of 3.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,575,012.50. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $876,319.39. Following the sale, 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 three months, insiders sold 66,520 shares of company stock worth $3,080,367. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.9% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.