Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Short Interest Update

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,100,000 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the November 30th total of 3,400,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.23. 526,964 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 823,611. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.92. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $9.10 and a twelve month high of $15.46. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.07.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. The firm had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.77 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on HLIT shares. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Harmonic from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James cut shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.25.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,043,000 after buying an additional 294,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 17,665 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Harmonic by 15.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 219,685 shares during the period. Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in Harmonic by 777.6% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.