Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its holdings in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) by 40.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 610,849 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 408,789 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Harmonic were worth $8,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Harmonic by 84.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 3rd quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harmonic Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ HLIT opened at $10.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.49. Harmonic Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.42 and a fifty-two week high of $15.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, Director David Krall acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $97,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 163,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,932.20. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $435,457.76. This represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HLIT. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Northland Securities decreased their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment 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, Harmonic has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

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.