Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading 10.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) were up 10.5% on Friday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $27.50 to $44.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Optoelectronics traded as high as $37.21 and last traded at $36.45. Approximately 576,550 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,720,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 9,790 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $391,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 165,054 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,160. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on 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 $3,181,025.46. The trade was a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 86,769 shares of company stock worth $2,813,037. Insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 15,507 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 909,559 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,018,000 after buying an additional 60,241 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth approximately $340,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 10.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of -17.68 and a beta of 2.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.04 and its 200-day moving average is $15.85.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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.