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

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 16,656 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 190% compared to the average volume of 5,741 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total value of $157,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 216,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $430,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 223,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,630,017.04. This represents a 4.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,769 shares of company stock worth $2,813,037. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 272.1% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 6,787 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 5,956 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth about $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Northland Securities upped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One 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, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.70.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $34.48 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.12 and its 200 day moving average is $14.76. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $6.70 and a 12 month high of $44.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.74 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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.