Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $11.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $8.75 and last traded at $8.98, with a volume of 1340608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.43.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HLIT. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.33.

Insider Activity

In other Harmonic news, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLIT. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,119 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 4,058 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Harmonic by 84.8% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.43.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. Harmonic’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.