Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan Buys 7,780 Shares

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,797 shares in the company, valued at $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of HLIT traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $10.06. 2,592,129 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,712. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $12.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.03. Harmonic Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.42 and a 52 week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (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 research analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLIT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Raymond James cut Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Harmonic by 5,388.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Harmonic by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

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.