A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a growth of 76.1% from the February 28th total of 1,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 4.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

A10 Networks Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE ATEN traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 857,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 813,647. A10 Networks has a 52 week low of $12.27 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 1.17.

A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.03. A10 Networks had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 19.16%. On average, equities analysts expect that A10 Networks will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

A10 Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. A10 Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATEN. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of A10 Networks by 364.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 683,711 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,580,000 after purchasing an additional 536,600 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of A10 Networks by 350.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 685,720 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,618,000 after acquiring an additional 533,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in A10 Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,202,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in A10 Networks by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,479,989 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,632,000 after purchasing an additional 249,145 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in A10 Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,236,000. Institutional investors own 98.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ATEN. BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of A10 Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of A10 Networks from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised A10 Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th.

About A10 Networks

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.