Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 91.49% from the stock’s previous close.

HLIT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised Harmonic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Harmonic from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. TheStreet upgraded Harmonic from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $17.20.

Harmonic Stock Up 2.2 %

Harmonic stock opened at $9.40 on Tuesday. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $8.80 and a twelve month high of $18.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.77.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $167.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.98 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 4.71% and a net margin of 13.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total transaction of $285,968.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 181,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,985.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total value of $285,968.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 181,864 shares in the company, valued at $2,105,985.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.91, for a total value of $1,291,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 302,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,582.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 150,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,122 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 237.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,591 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Harmonic in the third quarter valued at about $131,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Harmonic by 12.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,622 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Finally, Innovis Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Harmonic during the third quarter valued at approximately $174,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.