Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Receives $12.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HLIT shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In related news, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % 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 worth $316,607. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after acquiring an additional 235,188 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,300,128 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $62,443,000 after acquiring an additional 4,667,996 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,383,000 after acquiring an additional 175,133 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ HLIT opened at $10.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.84. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $8.42 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.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.