Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Receives $12.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.50.

HLIT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at $133,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $10.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 0.87. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $15.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.