Polymer Capital Management US LLC Purchases Shares of 19,632 Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,632 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted 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 worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth $137,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HLIT. Northland Securities dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT opened at $8.34 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.29 and a 200 day moving average of $12.08. The stock has a market cap of $976.22 million, a P/E ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Harmonic Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.91 and a 52-week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.