Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock Price

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $18.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would suggest a potential upside of 39.83% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Northland Securities decreased their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered Harmonic from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ HLIT traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.01. 1,790,658 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,354,864. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.09. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $15.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Krall bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 29,780 shares of company stock worth $286,157 over the last 90 days. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $103,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,128 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 642,033 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,613,000 after acquiring an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 175.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,015,000 after acquiring an additional 434,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,292,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.