Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Acquired by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,289 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,411 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.07% of Harmonic worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at about $133,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan purchased 7,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 $3,356,241.05. The trade was a 2.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Krall purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $97,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,598,932.20. The trade was a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 20,780 shares of company stock worth $203,327 in the last three months. 2.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Harmonic stock opened at $9.73 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $7.91 and a one year high of $15.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The company had revenue of $133.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.51 million. Harmonic’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities reduced 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. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.33.

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.