Nimrod Ben-Natan Acquires 7,780 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT opened at $10.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.05. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 274.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 6,184 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 5.5% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 319,611 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after buying an additional 16,558 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after buying an additional 642,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,365 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on HLIT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Harmonic presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

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.