AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• AudioCodes Ltd. experienced a significant 21.6% decline in short interest in August, with total short interest falling to 275,100 shares.
• The stock has been downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, with a current consensus target price of $11.25.
• AudioCodes recently announced a $0.20 dividend, resulting in an exceptionally high dividend yield of 350.0% and a payout ratio of 88.89%.

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 275,100 shares, a decline of 21.6% from the July 31st total of 350,700 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 113,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 113,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AudioCodes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AudioCodes in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in AudioCodes in the second quarter valued at about $127,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 12.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 179,371 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 19,629 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 38.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 39,306 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 10,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new stake in AudioCodes in the first quarter valued at about $412,000. Institutional investors own 68.05% of the company's stock.

AudioCodes Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of AUDC traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.20. 61,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 84,373. AudioCodes has a 1-year low of $7.70 and a 1-year high of $12.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.37 million, a PE ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.79 and a 200-day moving average of $9.56.

AudioCodes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a half year 25 dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 350.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. AudioCodes's dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered AudioCodes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AudioCodes has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.25.

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.