Invesco Ltd. Raises Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 1,300,128 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 6.68% of Harmonic worth $103,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Harmonic by 40.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 57,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 113.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 71,976 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 38,230 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth $4,292,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Harmonic Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of HLIT stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.90. 1,030,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,262,774. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.80 and a 200 day moving average of $11.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Harmonic announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

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.