Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $14.82, but opened at $10.93. Jefferies Financial Group now has a $12.50 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $14.00. Harmonic shares last traded at $11.27, with a volume of 2,165,194 shares.

Several other research firms have also commented on HLIT. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James lowered shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clearline Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 777.6% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,570,461 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,484,000 after buying an additional 1,391,504 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 1,276.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,203,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,870 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Harmonic by 1,952.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 978,127 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,513,000 after acquiring an additional 930,469 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,687,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 642,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Stock Down 25.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.87.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 53.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.