Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Given New $11.00 Price Target at Rosenblatt Securities

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities from $12.00 to $11.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.15% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on HLIT. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities decreased 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 reduced their price target 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 began coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.33.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of Harmonic stock opened at $9.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.65 and a 200 day moving average of $11.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Harmonic has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. On average, research analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last three months. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 9,004.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,443,000 after buying an additional 4,667,996 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in Harmonic by 198.2% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,547,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 175.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,015,000 after acquiring an additional 434,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 1,583.7% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 435,852 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,766,000 after buying an additional 409,966 shares in the last quarter. 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.