AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.91 and traded as high as $10.35. AudioCodes shares last traded at $10.17, with a volume of 79,364 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AUDC. StockNews.com raised shares of AudioCodes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of AudioCodes from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased 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.

AudioCodes Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a market cap of $314.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.90.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last issued its 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 forecast that AudioCodes Ltd. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 11.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 9,150 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,580,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,108,000 after acquiring an additional 37,080 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in AudioCodes in the 3rd quarter worth about $595,000. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 21,672 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 9,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,037 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 50,704 shares during the last quarter. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.