Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

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

Harmonic Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ HLIT opened at $9.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $12.47 and its 200 day moving average is $13.09. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $15.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Harmonic by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,063,328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after buying an additional 235,188 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Harmonic by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,145,357 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,383,000 after acquiring an additional 175,133 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 219,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 85.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is 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.