Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan Acquires 7,780 Shares

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CEO Nimrod Ben-Natan bought 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $75,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,356,241.05. This represents a 2.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Harmonic Stock Performance

Harmonic stock opened at $9.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.89. Harmonic Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.42 and a 1-year high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HLIT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James cut shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings 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 worth $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings 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 worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 274.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 6,184 shares during the last quarter. 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.