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

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 294,100 shares, a growth of 131.0% from the October 31st total of 127,300 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 84,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AUDC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 852,899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,122,000 after purchasing an additional 23,104 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in AudioCodes by 26.8% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,460 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in AudioCodes during the first quarter valued at approximately $340,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of AudioCodes by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,105 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 5,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 9.5% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 202,182 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 17,589 shares during the period. 68.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AudioCodes Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ AUDC traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 37,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 78,326. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.92. AudioCodes has a 1 year low of $7.70 and a 1 year high of $14.45. The company has a market capitalization of $281.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 0.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AUDC. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of AudioCodes from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on AudioCodes from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AudioCodes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

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.