Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $73,000 Stock Holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 5,388.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Harmonic by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after buying an additional 235,188 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,383,000 after acquiring an additional 175,133 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,057,570 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,992,000 after acquiring an additional 20,841 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 175.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,015,000 after purchasing an additional 434,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Harmonic by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,187 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,517,000 after purchasing an additional 17,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of HLIT stock opened at $9.21 on Friday. Harmonic Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $15.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In related news, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 over the last quarter. 2.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.