Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Purchased by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,335,941 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 57,046 shares during the quarter. Harmonic makes up approximately 1.1% of CenterBook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. CenterBook Partners LP owned about 1.15% of Harmonic worth $17,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Harmonic by 40.3% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 57,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 71,976 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 38,230 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at $4,292,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,356,241.05. This trade represents a 2.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Stock Down 0.6 %

HLIT stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $8.90. 266,111 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,270,444. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.87. 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 12-month low of $7.91 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.92.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HLIT shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.50.

About Harmonic

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.