A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $16.46, but opened at $17.40. A10 Networks shares last traded at $16.34, with a volume of 737,139 shares trading hands.

The communications equipment provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $66.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.63 million. A10 Networks had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 23.44%. A10 Networks's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 EPS.

A10 Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. A10 Networks's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of A10 Networks in a research note on Saturday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A10 Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Raymond James assumed coverage on A10 Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Craig Hallum upgraded A10 Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BWS Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of A10 Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A10 Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

Institutional Trading of A10 Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in A10 Networks by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in A10 Networks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,058 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of A10 Networks by 7.9% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,155 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A10 Networks by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 31,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in A10 Networks by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 80,299 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. 98.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A10 Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.74.

About A10 Networks

A10 Networks, Inc provides networking solutions in the Americas, Japan, rest of Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers Thunder Application Delivery Controller that provides advanced server load balancing; Thunder Carrier Grade Networking, which provides standards-compliant address and protocol translation services between varying types of internet protocol addresses; Thunder Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Insight that decrypts SSL-encrypted traffic and forwards it to a third-party security device for deep packet inspection; and Thunder Convergent Firewall, which addresses multiple critical security capabilities in one package.