Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Decreases By 7.8%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,230,000 shares, a drop of 7.8% from the August 31st total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HLIT. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 689,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,866. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.39. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $8.80 and a 12-month high of $15.31.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. Harmonic had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $138.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total value of $576,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 780.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Harmonic during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the first quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the second quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 20,192 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

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.