Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 320,491 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 19,102 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.28% of Harmonic worth $4,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Harmonic by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Harmonic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at $146,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Harmonic Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of HLIT opened at $8.53 on Tuesday. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.65. The firm has a market cap of $998.46 million, a P/E ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLIT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities cut their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,932.20. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. Company insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

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.