Insider Buying: Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director Buys 2,000 Shares of Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.99 per share, for a total transaction of $17,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,840 shares in the company, valued at $106,441.60. The trade was a 20.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Harmonic Stock Down 0.2%

Harmonic stock traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $9.38. 142,463 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,155,531. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.82. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.51 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 132.6% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,119 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 4,058 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the fourth 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 period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in 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. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HLIT. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.33.

Harmonic Company 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.