A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ATEN) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.28, but opened at $18.65. A10 Networks shares last traded at $20.19, with a volume of 88,641 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ATEN. StockNews.com upgraded A10 Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on A10 Networks from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of A10 Networks in a research note on Wednesday.

A10 Networks Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91 and a beta of 1.14.

A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. A10 Networks had a return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 19.29%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A10 Networks, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A10 Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. A10 Networks’s payout ratio is 35.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A10 Networks news, EVP Karen S. Thomas sold 6,162 shares of A10 Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total transaction of $102,905.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $397,443.30. The trade was a 20.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATEN. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in A10 Networks by 3,389.8% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,059 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of A10 Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of A10 Networks by 95.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,657 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of A10 Networks by 79.1% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.61% of the company’s stock.

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.