Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James lowered shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Northland Securities decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Up 2.9 %

Harmonic stock opened at $9.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $8.42 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.89.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. Equities analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,932.20. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 29,780 shares of company stock worth $286,157. Insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Harmonic by 117.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the 4th 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 period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Harmonic by 84.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 274.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 6,184 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

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.