Investors Buy High Volume of Liberty Global Put Options (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 33,448 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 4,585% compared to the typical volume of 714 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBTYA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Liberty Global from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Liberty Global from $12.60 to $12.10 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Liberty Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Global currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.02.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Global

In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.54, for a total transaction of $634,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,876 shares in the company, valued at $621,729.04. This represents a 50.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Global by 1,594.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 507,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 477,497 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,754,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,690,000 after buying an additional 844,265 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,518,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Liberty Global by 59.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 176,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 66,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its stake in Liberty Global by 9.7% during the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 23,644,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,097,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Global Stock Down 6.2%

Liberty Global stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.65. 4,384,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,350,574. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Liberty Global has a 1 year low of $9.54 and a 1 year high of $13.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.66. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.60 and a beta of 0.93.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.59). Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 47.65% and a negative net margin of 109.64%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Global will post -1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global plc operates as a leading international telecommunications and television company, offering a wide array of broadband internet, digital cable television, fixed-line telephony and mobile services. Through its extensive fiber and hybrid-fiber coaxial networks, the company delivers high-speed internet connectivity, video on demand and interactive television platforms to residential and business customers. Its service portfolio includes digital voice, managed Wi-Fi solutions, home security and converged connectivity bundles designed to meet evolving consumer and enterprise demands.

The company’s footprint spans key European markets, including the United Kingdom and Ireland under the Virgin Media brand, the Netherlands through Ziggo, Belgium via Telenet, and operations in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland and Luxembourg.