Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Acquired by Needham Investment Management LLC

Needham Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 650,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.56% of Harmonic worth $8,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Amundi raised its stake in Harmonic by 113.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 71,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 38,230 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth $4,292,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Harmonic by 6.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Harmonic by 18.3% in the 3rd 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 period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.33.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,726. This represents a 51.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 1.03. Harmonic Inc. has a one year low of $7.91 and a one year high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $133.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.51 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.