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

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 160,200 shares, a decline of 27.9% from the August 15th total of 222,200 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 77,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AUDC. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of AudioCodes in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised AudioCodes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

AudioCodes Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AUDC traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.87. The company had a trading volume of 60,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,338. The stock has a market cap of $298.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 0.87. AudioCodes has a 52 week low of $7.14 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.63 and its 200-day moving average is $11.02.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.11. The company had revenue of $60.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.93 million. AudioCodes had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 10.42%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AudioCodes will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

AudioCodes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. AudioCodes’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AudioCodes in the 1st quarter worth approximately $159,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AudioCodes during the second quarter worth $143,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AudioCodes during the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of AudioCodes by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,828 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 9,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of AudioCodes by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 25,683 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,009 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.05% of the company’s stock.

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.