Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Acquires $75,077.00 in Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Harmonic Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of HLIT opened at $9.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.09. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on HLIT. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Northland Securities reduced 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. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James cut shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 274.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in Harmonic by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 319,611 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 16,558 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Harmonic by 117.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 642,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,365 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,414 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.