Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Decreases By 13.0%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the September 15th total of 4,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total value of $576,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the 1st quarter worth $923,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 1,276.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,203,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,870 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 216.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 545,495 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,420,000 after purchasing an additional 373,155 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,659,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 290,842 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,909,000 after purchasing an additional 56,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, reaching $14.30. 566,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,522,845. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.87 and a 200-day moving average of $12.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87 and a beta of 0.87. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $9.10 and a 1-year high of $15.31.

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

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.