Short Interest in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Drops By 9.1%

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,830,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the October 31st total of 10,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $41.22 on Monday. Applied Optoelectronics has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $43.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.11. 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 capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.01 and a beta of 1.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,181,025.46. This trade represents a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard B. Black sold 8,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.18, for a total transaction of $303,463.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,979 shares of company stock valued at $1,990,637. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,089,000 after acquiring an additional 442,277 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at $386,000. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the first quarter worth $511,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth $956,000. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.70.

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.