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

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 16,656 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 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 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,821,031.24. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $150,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,996,473.42. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,769 shares of company stock valued at $2,813,037 over the last three months. 5.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,814 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 15,862 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3,290.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAOI. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective 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. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $20.00 to $27.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.70.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $38.88 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $6.70 and a 12 month high of $44.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -18.87 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.08.

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.