Harmonic's (HLIT) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target points to a potential upside of 62.16% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HLIT. Barclays increased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.80.

Harmonic Stock Down 25.1 %

Harmonic stock traded down $3.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,240,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,456. The firm's 50 day moving average is $14.06 and its 200 day moving average is $12.57. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $9.10 and a 52-week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. Harmonic had a return on equity of 0.27% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm had revenue of $195.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,211 shares in the company, valued at $1,761,060.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 780.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 1st quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.