Stefan Murry Sells 11,693 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Stefan Murry sold 11,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $587,573.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,575,012.50. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $43.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 3.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.71 and a 12 month high of $50.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.23 and its 200-day moving average is $30.28.

Trending Headlines about Applied Optoelectronics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains constructive — several brokers have kept Buy ratings or raised targets this winter, providing a bullish backdrop that helps justify current valuation levels for AAOI. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short?interest headlines claim a “large increase,” but published values show 0/NaN and a 0.0 days?to?cover ratio — this appears to be a reporting error; no clear short?seller pressure is confirmed until corrected data are posted. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership is high (~61.7%) and the stock is trading near its 52?week high with the 50? and 200?day moving averages well below current price — supportive technically but increases sensitivity to profit?taking around these levels. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior management: CFO Stefan Murry sold a total of ~18,020 shares across Feb. 10–11 (~$49–$50.25), trimming his stake. The SEC filing is posted. This kind of executive selling amid a price peak can weigh on near?term sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director David C. Kuo sold roughly ~20,000 shares across Feb. 10–11 (~$50 avg), a meaningful reduction in his holding; multiple insider sales in quick succession are being read as profit?taking and are likely contributing to the stock decline. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 10,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 175.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $7,201,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 202.7% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,655 shares during the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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.