Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $13.37, but opened at $12.82. Harmonic shares last traded at $12.88, with a volume of 81,253 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays lowered shares of Harmonic from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.75.

Harmonic Stock Down 7.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.17.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The business had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearline Capital LP boosted its position in Harmonic by 777.6% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,570,461 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,504 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Harmonic in the second quarter worth approximately $7,687,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Harmonic by 117.7% during the third 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Harmonic by 8.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,043,000 after buying an additional 294,922 shares during the last quarter. 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.