Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director David Krall Acquires 10,000 Shares

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,932.20. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Harmonic Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ HLIT opened at $9.79 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.89. Harmonic Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.42 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 175.9% during the fourth 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth $4,292,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

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.