DigitalBridge Group Inc. Sells 259,050 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

DigitalBridge Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 906,615 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 259,050 shares during the quarter. Harmonic comprises 0.9% of DigitalBridge Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. DigitalBridge Group Inc.’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $11,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 414.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 201,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 162,727 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Harmonic by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 2,207 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Harmonic by 18.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 246,944 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,598,000 after buying an additional 38,137 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen bought 3,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.15 per share, with a total value of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. Insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HLIT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.33.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $8.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.03. Harmonic Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.91 and a 12-month high of $15.46. 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 (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.51 million. Harmonic’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.