Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.50.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HLIT. Northland Securities reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Harmonic Stock Performance

HLIT stock opened at $10.15 on Wednesday. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $15.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.36.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after acquiring an additional 235,188 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 9,004.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,667,996 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,383,000 after buying an additional 175,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

About Harmonic

Harmonic Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband solutions worldwide. The company operates through Broadband and Video segments. The Broadband segment sells broadband access solutions and related services, including cOS software-based broadband access solutions to broadband operators; and cOS central cloud services, a subscription service for cOS customers.