A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN) shares gapped up prior to trading 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $66.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.63 million. A10 Networks had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS.

A10 Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. A10 Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 35.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Craig Hallum raised A10 Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of A10 Networks in a research note on Saturday, April 26th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of A10 Networks in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of A10 Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of A10 Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Institutional Trading of A10 Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATEN. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of A10 Networks by 3,389.8% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,059 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in A10 Networks by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in A10 Networks during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of A10 Networks by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of A10 Networks by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,096 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the period. 98.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A10 Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43 and a beta of 1.31.

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.