D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 355.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,874 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 167,660 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Harmonic worth $2,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Harmonic by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $146,368,000 after purchasing an additional 235,188 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Harmonic by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $28,383,000 after purchasing an additional 175,133 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP raised its position in Harmonic by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,335,941 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,674,000 after purchasing an additional 57,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Harmonic by 13.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 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 completion of 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.33.

Harmonic Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 613,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,287. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09 and a beta of 1.03. Harmonic Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $15.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.97.

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

Harmonic declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board 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.