Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys Shares of 1,329,093 Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,329,093 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $19,019,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 3.25% of Applied Optoelectronics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,089,000 after buying an additional 442,277 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 36,138 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at $1,319,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $956,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 88.6% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 463,213 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,420,000 after purchasing an additional 217,624 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAOI. Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley Financial restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.70.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.91. 3,574,076 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,645,298. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.70 and a 12 month high of $39.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.40 and a beta of 1.96. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 13,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total transaction of $493,070.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 124,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,230. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total transaction of $157,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $1,687,174. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

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.