Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 2,185 Shares of AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) by 151.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,624 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AudioCodes were worth $35,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AudioCodes by 72.8% during 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. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of AudioCodes during the third quarter valued at approximately $595,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AudioCodes by 11.1% during the third 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 50,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AudioCodes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,618,000. 68.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AudioCodes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AUDC opened at $12.22 on Monday. AudioCodes Ltd. has a 1 year low of $7.70 and a 1 year high of $14.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.83. The company has a market cap of $369.25 million, a P/E ratio of 24.44 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. AudioCodes had a net margin of 6.32% and a return on equity of 10.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AudioCodes Ltd. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

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

AudioCodes 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.