Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on HLIT. Northland Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HLIT stock opened at $10.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.87. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $15.46. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $10.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.43.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Harmonic by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Harmonic by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Harmonic by 14.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Harmonic by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harmonic Company Profile

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.