Harmonic’s (HLIT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 78.75% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HLIT traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.07. The company had a trading volume of 954,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,935,906. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Harmonic has a 12 month low of $8.80 and a 12 month high of $18.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.84.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.03. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.82% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $167.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.98 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In related news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total value of $285,968.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 181,864 shares in the company, valued at $2,105,985.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.91, for a total transaction of $1,291,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 302,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,901,582.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 24,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.58, for a total transaction of $285,968.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 181,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,985.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 150,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,122 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trigran Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 9,636,809 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $92,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677,338 shares during the period. Scopia Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Scopia Capital Management LP now owns 5,649,163 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $54,401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484,825 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,257,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 276.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,837,589 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolf Hill Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,879,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.