Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Declines By 13.0%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the September 15th total of 4,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of Harmonic stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.30. The company had a trading volume of 566,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,845. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $9.10 and a 12-month high of $15.31.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $138.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $133.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Harmonic by 780.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Harmonic during the first quarter worth approximately $114,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic during the second quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on HLIT shares. Barclays increased their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Harmonic has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.50.

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.