Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Hits New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $12.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $8.42 and last traded at $9.92, with a volume of 2140998 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.12.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HLIT. Barclays cut their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Northland Securities cut their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James cut Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 29,780 shares of company stock worth $286,157 over the last quarter. 2.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,300 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 14.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Harmonic Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.