Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,922,859 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 154,957 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.65% of Harmonic worth $25,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 175.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,015,000 after purchasing an additional 434,481 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,292,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Harmonic by 128.3% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 441,356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,839,000 after buying an additional 248,046 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $146,368,000 after purchasing an additional 235,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,299,000. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,108,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,384. Harmonic Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.91 and a 52 week high of $15.46. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.98 and its 200 day moving average is $11.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18.

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

Harmonic announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, CFO Walter Jankovic acquired 12,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,457.76. The trade was a 35.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan acquired 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $75,077.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on HLIT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.