Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.50.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HLIT shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reduced 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Harmonic Stock Up 1.9 %

HLIT stock opened at $8.95 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.98 and a 200 day moving average of $11.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 0.92. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Harmonic by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.