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

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 137,854 shares, a decrease of 37.4% from the February 12th total of 220,148 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 170,261 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Based on an average daily volume of 170,261 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of AudioCodes

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AudioCodes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 3,621.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,294 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 7,098 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AudioCodes during the 2nd quarter worth $127,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AudioCodes during the fourth quarter worth $150,000. Finally, SIH Partners LLLP purchased a new stake in shares of AudioCodes in the third quarter valued at $170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.05% of the company’s stock.

AudioCodes Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of AUDC traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.16. 40,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,456. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.00 million, a PE ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.85. AudioCodes has a fifty-two week low of $6.95 and a fifty-two week high of $11.50.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. The firm had revenue of $62.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.00 million. AudioCodes had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 6.46%. AudioCodes has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that AudioCodes will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AudioCodes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 552.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. AudioCodes’s payout ratio is currently 129.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AudioCodes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AudioCodes in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.50.

About AudioCodes

AudioCodes Ltd is a global provider of advanced voice networking and media processing solutions for enterprises and service providers. The company designs and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of products, including session border controllers (SBCs), media gateways, IP phones, management and monitoring software, and cloud-based communications microservices. Its offerings support a wide range of unified communications (UC) and contact center deployments, enabling secure, high-quality voice connectivity across on-premises, hybrid and cloud environments.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel, AudioCodes serves customers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.