Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price 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, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.96 on Monday. Harmonic has a 12 month low of $8.42 and a 12 month high of $15.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18 and a beta of 0.87.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % 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 valued at $316,607. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Harmonic by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at about $133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

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.