Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Decreases By 7.8%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,230,000 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the August 31st total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Harmonic in the second quarter worth about $7,687,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 777.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,570,461 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,504 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 120,539 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 42,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Harmonic by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 20,192 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLIT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of HLIT traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.95. 689,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,572,866. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.74 and a 200-day moving average of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.87. Harmonic has a 52 week low of $8.80 and a 52 week high of $15.31.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.04. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $138.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.