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

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 132,500 shares, a decline of 15.7% from the January 15th total of 157,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 106,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AudioCodes by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,309 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of AudioCodes by 151.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AudioCodes by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 21,672 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 9,133 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 9,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in AudioCodes during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AudioCodes Price Performance

NASDAQ:AUDC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.75. The stock had a trading volume of 59,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,751. The stock has a market cap of $355.09 million, a P/E ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.30 and its 200 day moving average is $9.87. AudioCodes has a fifty-two week low of $7.70 and a fifty-two week high of $14.04.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.31 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%. Equities analysts expect that AudioCodes will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio is 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AudioCodes Company Profile

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.