Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director Daniel T. Whalen Purchases 3,000 Shares

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.3 %

HLIT stock opened at $10.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.88. Harmonic Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.42 and a fifty-two week high of $15.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 0.89.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. On average, research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLIT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $133,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.