Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Short Interest Update

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, a decrease of 13.0% from the September 15th total of 4,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $18.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $14.30. 566,945 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,522,845. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.44. Harmonic has a one year low of $9.10 and a one year high of $15.31. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.87.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. Harmonic had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 0.27%. The company had revenue of $138.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Harmonic will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Neven Haltmayer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.41, for a total transaction of $576,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,060.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 7.2% in the second quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 20,192 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Harmonic by 0.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 320,516 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 1.5% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 98,377 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Harmonic by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,256 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.