Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 5,654,063 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 183% from the previous session’s volume of 1,994,623 shares.The stock last traded at $9.31 and had previously closed at $9.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLIT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Harmonic from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.20.

Harmonic Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.34 and its 200 day moving average is $11.74.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 EPS 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 net margin of 13.82% and a return on equity of 4.71%. Harmonic’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total transaction of $285,968.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total transaction of $285,968.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 302,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,582.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 150,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,122. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 1,289.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 172,340 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 159,940 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 4.4% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,355,274 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,215,000 after purchasing an additional 57,002 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,686,046 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $126,306,000 after purchasing an additional 289,443 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,796,165 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,702,000 after purchasing an additional 990,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at $280,000. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.