Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock Holdings Lifted by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,527 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $1,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Harmonic by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at about $137,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the third quarter worth about $166,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HLIT. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last ninety days. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT opened at $8.33 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.15 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $975.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24 and a beta of 0.92.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. Analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase 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.