Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 11,569 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 62% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,148 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday, February 24th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.60.

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Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 18.9 %

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded down $4.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $17.72. 7,976,405 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,708,437. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52-week low of $6.70 and a 52-week high of $44.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.33 and a 200-day moving average of $24.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $830.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 2.36.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $100.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $99.92 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 38.61% and a negative return on equity of 22.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.72, for a total value of $126,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 212,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,728,731.88. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $430,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 223,538 shares in the company, valued at $9,630,017.04. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $1,281,201. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth approximately $19,019,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $353,000. Finally, Affinity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $7,965,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.