Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Acquired by Needham Investment Management LLC

Needham Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 650,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.56% of Harmonic worth $8,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 414.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 201,976 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,944,000 after buying an additional 162,727 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 6.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 18.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 246,944 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 38,137 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Northland Securities cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

Harmonic Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.54. 768,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,422. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

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

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.