Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in A10 Networks, Inc. $ATEN

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its ownership of A10 Networks to 10.00%, holding 7,394,304 shares valued at approximately $120.8 million after acquiring an additional 34,634 shares in Q1.
• Multiple institutional investors are actively investing in A10 Networks, with 98.61% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional entities.
• A10 Networks has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $0.24 and a yield of 1.4% for shareholders.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,394,304 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,634 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.00% of A10 Networks worth $120,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Haven Private LLC grew its holdings in A10 Networks by 80.1% during the 1st quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 42,094 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in A10 Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $306,000. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in A10 Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in A10 Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $517,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in A10 Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $2,013,000. 98.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brian Becker sold 6,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.03, for a total value of $115,392.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,399,109.97. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research upgraded A10 Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of A10 Networks in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of A10 Networks in a research report on Friday, June 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Craig Hallum raised shares of A10 Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A10 Networks in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A10 Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

A10 Networks Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE ATEN traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $17.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 446,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,786. A10 Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.72 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $18.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.96.

A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. A10 Networks had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 25.46%. The business had revenue of $69.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that A10 Networks, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A10 Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. A10 Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.29%.

A10 Networks Company Profile

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.