Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Insider David Kuo Sells 2,533 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) insider David Kuo sold 2,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $126,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 129,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,500. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $48.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.03 and a beta of 3.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.18. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a one year low of $9.71 and a one year high of $50.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday, November 10th. Northland Securities set a $45.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.60.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Optoelectronics

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains: several brokers (Rosenblatt, Needham, Northland) continue to rate AAOI favorably or have raised targets this winter, which provides a near?term bullish backdrop and helps justify higher valuation levels. MarketBeat AAOI analyst summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short?interest figures for Feb. 10–11 show a “large increase” in the headline but published values are 0/NaN and a 0.0 days ratio — likely a reporting error. No actionable short?sell signal until corrected. InsiderTrades report
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership is high (~61.7%) and the firm’s technicals show the stock trading near its 12?month high with the 50?day and 200?day moving averages well below current levels — supportive longer?term but increases sensitivity to profit?taking around this price zone. MarketBeat AAOI profile
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior management: CFO Stefan J. Murry sold a total of 18,020 shares across Feb. 10–11 (6,327 at ~$49.17 and 11,693 at ~$50.25), trimming his holding a few percentage points. That sale is recorded with the SEC. CFO SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Director David C. Kuo sold ~20,000 shares across Feb. 10–11 (two trades at ~$50 avg), cutting his stake meaningfully. Multiple insider sales in quick succession are being read by the market as profit?taking after recent gains and are weighing on sentiment. Director SEC filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures high-speed fiber-optic networking products designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of data centers, telecommunications carriers and internet content providers. The company’s core offerings include pluggable optical transceiver modules, transponders and optical components that enable data transmission at rates ranging from 1G to 400G. These products are used to facilitate long-haul, metro and intra-data center connectivity, addressing the need for scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient solutions in modern network infrastructures.

The company’s product portfolio spans small-form factor pluggable modules such as SFP+, QSFP+ and QSFP28 units, as well as more advanced form factors like CFP2 and OSFP for ultra-high-speed applications.