Short Interest in Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Rises By 9.3%

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,010,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the October 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLIT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.25.

Harmonic Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ HLIT traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $11.95. 1,002,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,515,045. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.89. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $9.10 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.76.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.77 million. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.05) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 780.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Harmonic by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic during the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $140,000. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harmonic Company Profile

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.