Walter Jankovic Buys 12,000 Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Stock

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Harmonic Price Performance

Harmonic stock opened at $10.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.35 and a 200-day moving average of $13.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08. Harmonic Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.42 and a 52 week high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side 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 initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Harmonic by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 5,388.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,543 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 14,765.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Harmonic by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on HLIT shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.