Northland Securities Has Lowered Expectations for Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock Price

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Northland Securities from $14.00 to $12.50 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Northland Securities’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.41% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on HLIT. Raymond James downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Harmonic from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.83.

Harmonic Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $11.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.89. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $9.10 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Harmonic by 14.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Harmonic by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.