117,703 Shares in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 117,703 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,557,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at about $146,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Harmonic by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.96. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.46. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.92.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Harmonic 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.