Squarepoint Ops LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 585,340 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 135,878 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.50% of Harmonic worth $7,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 9,004.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $62,443,000 after buying an additional 4,667,996 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 198.2% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $10,547,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 175.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,015,000 after purchasing an additional 434,481 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 1,583.7% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 435,852 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 409,966 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.33.

Harmonic Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Harmonic stock traded down $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $9.09. 101,664 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,146,238. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Harmonic Inc. has a one year low of $7.91 and a one year high of $15.46. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.