AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average of $11.28

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $11.28 and traded as high as $13.22. AudioCodes shares last traded at $13.01, with a volume of 42,187 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AudioCodes from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of AudioCodes from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AudioCodes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 20th.

AudioCodes Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.88 and its 200 day moving average is $11.28. The stock has a market cap of $412.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.81.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.18 million. AudioCodes had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 7.35%. As a group, analysts forecast that AudioCodes Ltd. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.6%. AudioCodes’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in AudioCodes in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AudioCodes in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in AudioCodes by 669.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,232 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 4,552 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in AudioCodes in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in AudioCodes by 146.3% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,783 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 4,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.68% of the company’s stock.

About AudioCodes

AudioCodes Ltd. provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace. The company offers solutions, products, and services for unified communications, contact centers, hosted business services, VoiceAI business line, and service provider business. 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.