Corton Capital Inc. Takes $378,000 Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,580 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in 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 valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Northland Securities dropped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.33.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.8 %

HLIT stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.15. The company had a trading volume of 21,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,920. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.24. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other news, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. Insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

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.