62,706 Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI Shares Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 566,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,706 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Optoelectronics were worth $56,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. EFG International AG purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $48,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total transaction of $411,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 363,168 shares in the company, valued at $37,359,092.16. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Hung-Lun Chang sold 32,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $3,545,676.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 249,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,472,707.96. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 52,172 shares of company stock worth $5,985,036 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded down $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.89. 10,788,791 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,754,526. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of -116.02 and a beta of 4.04. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.50 and a twelve month high of $233.67.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 0.17% and a negative net margin of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $269.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 127.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAOI. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $92.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $170.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products used to transmit data over cable, telecommunications and data center networks. Its offerings include optical transceivers and other optical components and equipment. The company serves customers in markets including broadband access, telecommunications and data centers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics has operations in the United States and Asia and serves customers internationally.