Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Short Interest Update

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,420,000 shares, a drop of 11.9% from the December 31st total of 9,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total value of $157,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $430,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 223,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,630,017.04. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,067 shares of company stock valued at $3,513,238 in the last 90 days. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,019,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth approximately $16,145,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,596,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,847,000 after purchasing an additional 515,489 shares during the last quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $6,470,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 0.5 %

AAOI opened at $27.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $6.70 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.55 and a beta of 2.39.

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.