Jump Financial LLC Buys New Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 35,280 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Harmonic Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT traded down $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,340,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,805. Harmonic Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $15.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The company had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Harmonic news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 163,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

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.