Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 165,794 Shares of Harmonic Inc. $HLIT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Harmonic stake by 31%, purchasing 165,794 additional shares for a total of 701,151 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.38% of HLIT.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.60, versus the stock’s reported price of $11.35.
• Harmonic shares have traded between $7.80 and $17.68 over the past year, while two company insiders recently sold shares; insiders own 1.74% of the stock.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 31.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 701,151 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 165,794 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.65% of Harmonic worth $6,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Harmonic by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 65,664 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Harmonic by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 353,538 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,390,000 after buying an additional 31,276 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Harmonic by 978.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 247,480 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 224,534 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 239.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,892 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 78,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,426,000. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Stock Performance

HLIT opened at $11.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Harmonic Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.80 and a 12-month high of $17.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.15 and a 200-day moving average of $11.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.67 and a beta of 1.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Harmonic from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Harmonic from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Harmonic from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephanie Copeland sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $57,190.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,001.60. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 31,766 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.24, for a total value of $420,581.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 133,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,773,153.76. This represents a 19.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Harmonic Company Profile

Harmonic Inc NASDAQ: HLIT is a leading provider of video delivery infrastructure that enables service providers, broadcasters and content owners to capture, process and distribute high‐quality video across broadcast, cable, satellite and IP networks. The company's portfolio spans real‐time video compression solutions, including encoders and transcoders, as well as storage and server products designed for live production, playout and streaming on any device.

Harmonic's product lines include cable edge QAM modules and set‐top video processing platforms for traditional pay‐TV operators, alongside cloud‐native software for over‐the‐top (OTT) delivery, origin servers and content delivery network (CDN) services.

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