Northern Trust Corp Purchases 147,274 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,252,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 147,274 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.08% of Harmonic worth $16,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Quarry LP bought a new position in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Harmonic by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Harmonic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Harmonic Stock Down 0.6%

HLIT traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.54. 768,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,945. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 1.03. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.46. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $9.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.05. 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 (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $133.14 million for 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%. Harmonic's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HLIT. Barclays reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Northland Securities cut their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.