Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Downgraded to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Harmonic from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $16.60.
• Harmonic shares opened at $11.55, below the 50-day moving average of $13.99, with a 52-week range of $8.25 to $17.68 and a market capitalization of approximately $1.25 billion.
• Insiders recently sold shares, including transactions by a director and senior vice president, while institutional investors own a substantial 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Harmonic from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $15.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.60.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT opened at $11.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.22 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $13.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.66. Harmonic has a 1 year low of $8.25 and a 1 year high of $17.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephanie Copeland sold 4,300 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total transaction of $57,190.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at $276,001.60. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 31,766 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.24, for a total transaction of $420,581.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 133,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,773,153.76. This trade represents a 19.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.74% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 68.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 52,167 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 21,205 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 126,667 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 18,318 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Harmonic by 17.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 32,605 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 4,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Harmonic in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Harmonic

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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