Royce & Associates LP Sells 408,789 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 610,849 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 408,789 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.52% of Harmonic worth $8,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $17,613,000 after acquiring an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth about $4,292,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Harmonic by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $24,184,000 after purchasing an additional 219,685 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,299,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 414.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 201,976 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,944,000 after buying an additional 162,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. This represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,457.76. The trade was a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Harmonic Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of HLIT traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $10.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,553,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,393. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $10.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.43. Harmonic Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.42 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.87.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLIT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.