Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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 assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.77 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 0.87. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $8.42 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.33.

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

Harmonic announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,934,000 after buying an additional 57,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 17,665 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 113.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 71,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 38,230 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after acquiring an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 6.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Harmonic

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.