Jump Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)

Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 35,280 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 6.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 322,353 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,265,000 after acquiring an additional 2,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HLIT. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a research report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

NASDAQ HLIT opened at $9.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 0.92. Harmonic Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $15.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.58.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Harmonic

In related news, Director Daniel T. Whalen acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,840 shares in the company, valued at $89,726. This trade represents a 51.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic bought 12,000 shares of Harmonic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.44 per share, with a total value of $113,280.00. Following the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 32,780 shares of company stock worth $316,607 over the last three months. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.