Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Harmonic presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

HLIT stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.71. The company had a trading volume of 93,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,420,624. Harmonic has a one year low of $8.42 and a one year high of $15.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.95.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued 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 net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Krall acquired 10,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 29,780 shares of company stock valued at $286,157 in the last 90 days. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Harmonic by 40.3% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 57,888 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $833,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,915,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after buying an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Harmonic in the third quarter valued at $1,756,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.