Nomura Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 54.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,026 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Harmonic worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% in 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 during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on HLIT shares. Barclays reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

Insider Activity

In other Harmonic news, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.21% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Trading Down 0.4%

HLIT traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.34. The company had a trading volume of 498,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,129. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30 and a beta of 1.03. Harmonic Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.91 and a 52 week high of $15.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $133.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. The business'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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management 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.