First Trust Advisors LP Takes Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 219,114 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,899,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.19% of Harmonic at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in 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 valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake 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 worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Harmonic stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.88. 648,180 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,171,096. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.30. 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 12-month low of $7.91 and a 12-month high of $15.46.

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

Harmonic announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Northland Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Harmonic Profile

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.