Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) in a research note released on Friday. The firm issued a hold rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HLIT. Northland Securities cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut 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. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James lowered shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $10.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Harmonic has a one year low of $8.42 and a one year high of $15.46. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.09 and a 200-day moving average of $12.93.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,457.76. The trade was a 35.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 29,780 shares of company stock worth $286,157 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 9,004.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,443,000 after acquiring an additional 4,667,996 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Harmonic by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,302,000 after buying an additional 642,033 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after buying an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 198.2% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,547,000 after buying an additional 529,833 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.