Barclays Cuts Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Price Target to $10.00

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Barclays from $14.00 to $10.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 0.10% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HLIT. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Harmonic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of Harmonic stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.01. 1,790,658 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,354,864. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.09. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $8.42 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 29,780 shares of company stock valued at $286,157. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Harmonic by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Harmonic by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 642,033 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Harmonic by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Harmonic by 175.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,015,000 after purchasing an additional 434,481 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Harmonic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,292,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.