Ieq Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew 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 valued at $17,613,000 after buying an additional 555,737 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Harmonic by 15.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,184,000 after purchasing an additional 219,685 shares during the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the third quarter valued at $2,915,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 414.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 201,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 162,727 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 412.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 193,310 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after buying an additional 155,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLIT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased 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, Northland Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days. Insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT stock opened at $10.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18. Harmonic Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.42 and a 52-week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.