Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Grows By 8.7%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,360,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the March 15th total of 7,690,000 shares. Approximately 7.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HLIT shares. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James dropped their price target 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. Finally, TheStreet raised Harmonic from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $17.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harmonic

In other Harmonic news, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 302,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,901,582.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Nimrod Ben-Natan sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,901,582.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 14,747 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total value of $201,738.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 156,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,141,727.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,000 shares of company stock worth $1,917,122. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 237.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,591 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 2,615.0% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in Harmonic by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Harmonic by 411.4% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,866 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Harmonic by 239.9% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,178 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Price Performance

Harmonic stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.16. 596,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,931,762. Harmonic has a 52 week low of $8.80 and a 52 week high of $18.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.88 and its 200-day moving average is $11.76.

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

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.