AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 132,500 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the January 15th total of 157,200 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 106,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AUDC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AudioCodes from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of AudioCodes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on AudioCodes from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in AudioCodes during the third quarter worth approximately $1,618,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AudioCodes by 95.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,037 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 50,704 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of AudioCodes in the 3rd quarter worth about $595,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in AudioCodes by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 91,287 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 9,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in AudioCodes by 151.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the period. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AudioCodes Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AUDC opened at $11.75 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.87. AudioCodes has a 52-week low of $7.70 and a 52-week high of $14.04. The firm has a market cap of $355.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 0.80.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. AudioCodes had a return on equity of 10.47% and a net margin of 6.32%. Analysts anticipate that AudioCodes will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a yield of 3%. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.00%.

About AudioCodes

AudioCodes Ltd. provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace worldwide. The company offers solutions, products, and services for unified communications, contact centers, hosted business services, Voice.AI, and service provider businesses. Its products include session border controllers, life cycle management solutions, VoIP network routing solutions, media gateways and servers, multi-service business routers, IP phones solutions, and value-added applications, as well as professional services.