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

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $17.79, but opened at $19.10. A10 Networks shares last traded at $18.33, with a volume of 318,258 shares trading hands.

The communications equipment provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $69.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.99 million. A10 Networks had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 25.13%. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS.

A10 Networks Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. A10 Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of A10 Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of A10 Networks in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of A10 Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A10 Networks in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of A10 Networks in a report on Friday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Insider Activity

In other A10 Networks news, General Counsel Robert Scott Weber sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.26, for a total value of $43,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 61,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,980.82. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of A10 Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of A10 Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of A10 Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $55,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of A10 Networks by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in A10 Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $194,000. 98.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A10 Networks Stock Up 5.8%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

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.