Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Makes New $386,000 Investment in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,146 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HLIT. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harmonic Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of HLIT traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $9.60. The stock had a trading volume of 655,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,017. Harmonic Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.91 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 1.03. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $9.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.10.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The firm had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. Harmonic's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In related news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 20,780 shares of company stock worth $203,327. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HLIT shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.33.

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.