AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 120,374 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,417,000. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Harmonic as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLIT. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Harmonic by 1,276.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,203,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,870 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Harmonic by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,796,165 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $114,702,000 after purchasing an additional 990,425 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Harmonic by 1,952.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 978,127 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $11,513,000 after purchasing an additional 930,469 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Harmonic in the 1st quarter worth $8,295,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Harmonic in the 1st quarter worth $6,047,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total value of $576,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HLIT. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT opened at $13.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.87. Harmonic Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.05 and a 52-week high of $15.31.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. Harmonic had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $138.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

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.