AudioCodes Ltd. $AUDC Shares Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in AudioCodes Ltd. by 24.5% in the first quarter, owning 133,791 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million.
• AudioCodes recently declared a $0.20 per share dividend, representing a yield of 350.0%, with a payout ratio of 88.89%.
• Analysts have downgraded AudioCodes from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, with a current average target price of $11.25.

Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,791 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,316 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.45% of AudioCodes worth $1,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in AudioCodes by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 880,250 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $8,292,000 after purchasing an additional 21,650 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 4.9% in the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 241,131 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 11,324 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 230,526 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 12,090 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 190,338 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 30,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in AudioCodes by 12.0% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 101,954 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 10,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AudioCodes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.25.

AudioCodes Stock Performance

NASDAQ AUDC traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.45. 166,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 83,608. AudioCodes Ltd. has a 1-year low of $7.70 and a 1-year high of $12.72. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.47 million, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.93.

AudioCodes Dividend Announcement

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

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.