Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,692 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,913 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Harmonic worth $1,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Harmonic by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after buying an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Harmonic by 15.3% in 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 buying an additional 219,685 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in 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 valued at $17,613,000 after buying an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in Harmonic by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,107,668 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,139,000 after buying an additional 118,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Harmonic by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,036,729 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,105,000 after buying an additional 34,405 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $10.31 on Friday. Harmonic Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.42 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.78 and a 200 day moving average of $12.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Harmonic news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,457.76. The trade was a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic 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.