Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Purchased by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 175,133 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.84% of Harmonic worth $28,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Harmonic during the 4th quarter valued at $146,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Harmonic during the 3rd quarter worth $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HLIT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.95. 1,108,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,282,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

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

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

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.