Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 39,275 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 363.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,070 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,275 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Harmonic were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at $4,292,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 441,356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,839,000 after buying an additional 248,046 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 15.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $24,184,000 after acquiring an additional 219,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter worth about $2,299,000. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities cut their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.50.

Insider Activity

In other Harmonic news, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.71 on Monday. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.42 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.