Northland Securities Lowers Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Price Target to $12.50

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) had its price target trimmed by Northland Securities from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on HLIT. Barclays lowered shares of Harmonic from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Stock Down 15.3 %

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.42 on Tuesday. Harmonic has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $15.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.54 and a 200 day moving average of $13.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 274.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 319,611 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 16,558 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 642,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Harmonic by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,365 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

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.