Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.70, but opened at $14.30. Harmonic shares last traded at $14.4410, with a volume of 1,252,994 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Harmonic from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Harmonic from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Northland Securities set a $15.00 target price on Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.60.

Harmonic Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.19. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -40.34 and a beta of 1.24.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.04). Harmonic had a negative net margin of 7.50% and a positive return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of ($53.02) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Harmonic’s quarterly revenue was down 42.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Harmonic

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 31,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.24, for a total transaction of $420,581.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 133,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,773,153.76. This represents a 19.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephanie Copeland sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $57,190.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $276,001.60. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 65,664 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 9.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 353,538 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,390,000 after purchasing an additional 31,276 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 978.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 247,480 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 224,534 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 239.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,892 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 78,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic during the second quarter worth approximately $1,426,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Company Profile

Harmonic Inc (NASDAQ:HLIT) is a leading provider of video delivery infrastructure that enables service providers, broadcasters and content owners to capture, process and distribute high‐quality video across broadcast, cable, satellite and IP networks. The company’s portfolio spans real‐time video compression solutions, including encoders and transcoders, as well as storage and server products designed for live production, playout and streaming on any device.

Harmonic’s product lines include cable edge QAM modules and set‐top video processing platforms for traditional pay‐TV operators, alongside cloud‐native software for over‐the‐top (OTT) delivery, origin servers and content delivery network (CDN) services.