Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,686,046 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $126,306,000 after buying an additional 289,443 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Harmonic by 4.4% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,355,274 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,215,000 after purchasing an additional 57,002 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 585,533 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 37.2% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 98,124 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 26,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Harmonic in the first quarter valued at approximately $923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $14.45 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.47. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $9.10 and a 1-year high of $15.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08 and a beta of 0.87.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $138.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.67 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

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.