Barclays PLC Purchases 15,507 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 37.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,507 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.12% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 90.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 75,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 36,138 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $1,109,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $1,319,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $19,019,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 27.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 192,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 12.2 %

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $31.18 on Thursday. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $44.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.14 and a beta of 2.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AAOI shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $27.50 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $17.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. B. Riley cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.93, for a total transaction of $269,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,181,025.46. This represents a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.56, for a total value of $157,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 216,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,821,031.24. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,015,537 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

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.