JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 175.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 434,481 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.58% of Harmonic worth $9,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted 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 worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Harmonic by 14.9% during the 3rd 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. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 322,353 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,265,000 after buying an additional 2,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.2 %

HLIT traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,030,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,842. The stock's 50-day moving average is $9.78 and its 200-day moving average is $11.69. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. As a group, research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on HLIT. Barclays dropped 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. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Northland Securities reduced 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.50.

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.