Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Short Interest Update

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

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.96. The company had a trading volume of 436,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,527. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.39. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $8.80 and a 12-month high of $15.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42 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 (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $138.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $133.67 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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 owns 122,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Harmonic during the first quarter worth approximately $923,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 1,276.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,203,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,870 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Harmonic by 216.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 545,495 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after buying an additional 373,155 shares during the period. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth $2,848,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in Harmonic during the first quarter worth $3,659,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.