Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Short Interest Up 9.3% in October

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,010,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the October 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Harmonic Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:HLIT traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $11.95. 1,002,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,515,045. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $9.10 and a twelve month high of $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.40 and a 200 day moving average of $12.76.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.77 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. Harmonic’s quarterly revenue was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HLIT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Harmonic from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harmonic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,852,064 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $132,412,000 after acquiring an additional 166,018 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Harmonic by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,043,000 after acquiring an additional 294,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Harmonic by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,665 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 5.6% during the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 1,975,966 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,257,000 after buying an additional 105,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 15.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,184,000 after buying an additional 219,685 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently 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.