Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $14.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 50.38% from the stock’s previous close.

HLIT has been the topic of several other reports. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.33.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT opened at $9.31 on Tuesday. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $7.91 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.49.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % 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, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 bought a total of 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Harmonic by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Harmonic by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Harmonic by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 120,524 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Harmonic by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the period. 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.