David Krall Buys 10,000 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Harmonic Stock Performance

HLIT stock opened at $10.06 on Friday. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.42 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.05.

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on HLIT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Harmonic by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $146,368,000 after acquiring an additional 235,188 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,383,000 after purchasing an additional 175,133 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Harmonic by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,184,000 after buying an additional 219,685 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by 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.