Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HLIT. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Northland Securities decreased their target price 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, Rosenblatt Securities cut 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT opened at $10.14 on Monday. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $8.42 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.36 and a 200 day moving average of $12.63. 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 earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, Director David Krall acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 in the last three months. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Harmonic in the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. 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.