Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.78.

LBTYA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Liberty Global from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Thursday, October 29th. New Street Research raised Liberty Global from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on Liberty Global from $12.10 to $11.90 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Liberty Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at Liberty Global

In other news, major shareholder John Malone acquired 98,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.76 per share, with a total value of $963,351.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,217,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,965,171.68. This trade represents a 1.08% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Enrique Rodriguez acquired 211,313 shares of Liberty Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.45 per share, for a total transaction of $1,996,907.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 602,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,472.10. This represents a 54.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased a total of 471,313 shares of company stock valued at $4,487,504 over the last quarter. 4.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LBTYA. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Liberty Global by 94.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 349,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,979,000 after acquiring an additional 170,328 shares during the last quarter. Lancaster Investment Management bought a new stake in Liberty Global during the third quarter worth $34,336,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Liberty Global by 8.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,245,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,896,000 after purchasing an additional 251,727 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in Liberty Global during the first quarter worth $6,196,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Global in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,529,000. Institutional investors own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Global Trading Up 3.7%

NASDAQ LBTYA opened at $10.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Liberty Global has a 12-month low of $7.36 and a 12-month high of $13.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.97.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $1.64. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 44.40% and a negative return on equity of 25.14%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Liberty Global will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global is an international telecommunications company that provides broadband, mobile, television and fixed-line voice services through operating companies and joint ventures. Its businesses serve residential and business customers, with offerings that include internet access, mobile connectivity, video services and related communications products. The company’s European portfolio includes Virgin Media O2 in the United Kingdom, VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands and Telenet in Belgium. Liberty Global also invests in communications infrastructure and technology businesses.