Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 3,033 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,080 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,033 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Harmonic by 14.9% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in Harmonic by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 322,353 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 2,742 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.5 %

HLIT stock opened at $10.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.81. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.42 and a fifty-two week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. On average, research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Krall acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on HLIT. Barclays dropped 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, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

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.