Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,591 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,628 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 14,765.9% in 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 position in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Harmonic by 14.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HLIT. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities decreased 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. Rosenblatt Securities cut 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. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of HLIT stock opened at $8.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.92. Harmonic Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.91 and a 52 week high of $15.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released 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 return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. Insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

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.