Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $12.50 price objective on the communications equipment provider's stock, down from their prior price objective of $14.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HLIT. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on Harmonic from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.25.

Harmonic Price Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT traded down $3.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.10. 7,260,338 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,523,462. Harmonic has a 12 month low of $9.10 and a 12 month high of $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.06 and a 200 day moving average of $12.57.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. Harmonic had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 0.27%. The business had revenue of $195.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.05) earnings per share. Harmonic's revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLIT. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 777.6% during the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,570,461 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $18,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,504 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 1,276.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,203,297 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $16,172,000 after buying an additional 1,115,870 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 1,952.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 978,127 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $11,513,000 after acquiring an additional 930,469 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,687,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Harmonic by 117.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 642,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

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.