Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Sells 1,208,203 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lowered its holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 61.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 750,504 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 1,208,203 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.64% of Harmonic worth $9,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd bought a new position in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at $3,957,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 133.9% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 66,230 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 37,914 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 355,773 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,707,000 after acquiring an additional 16,726 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Harmonic by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,252,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $16,575,000 after purchasing an additional 147,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Harmonic by 198.2% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $10,547,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In related news, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of the business's 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 acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HLIT. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Northland Securities cut 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of Harmonic stock remained flat at $9.08 during midday trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 760,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,899. Harmonic Inc. has a one year low of $7.91 and a one year high of $15.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.42 and its 200 day moving average is $11.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.