Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sees Large Volume Increase

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 3,506,843 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 86% from the previous session's volume of 1,881,889 shares.The stock last traded at $11.16 and had previously closed at $11.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLIT has been the topic of a number of research reports. TheStreet raised shares of Harmonic from a "c" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Harmonic Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.71.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.03. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.82% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The business had revenue of $167.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 14,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total transaction of $201,738.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 156,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,727.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.91, for a total transaction of $1,291,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 302,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,901,582.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 14,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total transaction of $201,738.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 156,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,727.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,122. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Harmonic by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,297,705 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $279,704,000 after purchasing an additional 603,429 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Harmonic by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,686,046 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $126,306,000 after purchasing an additional 289,443 shares during the period. Trigran Investments Inc. lifted its position in Harmonic by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 9,636,809 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $92,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677,338 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Harmonic by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,796,165 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $114,702,000 after purchasing an additional 990,425 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.