Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 80.18% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James cut their price target on Harmonic from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $17.20.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT stock opened at $9.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.73. Harmonic has a one year low of $8.80 and a one year high of $18.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.84.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.03. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.82% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $167.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Harmonic’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total value of $285,968.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 181,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,985.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Harmonic news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total transaction of $285,968.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 181,864 shares in the company, valued at $2,105,985.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.91, for a total value of $1,291,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 302,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,582.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 150,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,122 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Harmonic by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 108,884 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,589,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 5.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 25,432 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 13,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 12,697 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 193,238 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.