Insider Buying: Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Director Acquires 10,000 Shares of Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,598,932.20. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Harmonic Price Performance

Harmonic stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.06. 2,592,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,712. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Harmonic Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $15.46. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.03.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 10,248 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 104,026 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Harmonic by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $8,600,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 9,004.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $62,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,667,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Harmonic by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,811 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.