Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $795,000 Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,080 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,033 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Harmonic worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 40.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after acquiring an additional 57,888 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Harmonic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $833,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,915,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares during the period. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $10.36 on Tuesday. Harmonic Inc. 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 50-day simple moving average is $11.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports 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. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Harmonic has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic 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.