Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK) Shares Down 5.1% – Time to Sell?

Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ:LILAK)’s stock price traded down 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $7.90 and last traded at $7.9050. 370,192 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 860,579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.20.

Liberty Global Stock Down 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.78, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 0.72.

Shares of Liberty Global are scheduled to split on the morning of Monday, June 1st. The 11-10 split was recently announced. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Sunday, May 31st.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.15). Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 43.70% and a negative net margin of 11.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Balan Nair bought 20,000 shares of Liberty Global stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.07 per share, with a total value of $161,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,125,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,219,064.73. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Global

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 15,395,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,788,000 after acquiring an additional 4,738,495 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,687,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,439,000 after acquiring an additional 129,952 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 186.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 6,669,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,293,000 after acquiring an additional 4,341,307 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 2,895,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,602,000 after acquiring an additional 533,221 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC now owns 2,053,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,320,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. 52.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global plc is a leading international telecommunications and television company, offering video, broadband Internet, fixed-line and mobile services to residential and business customers. Headquartered in London and operating as an ADR on the NASDAQ under the ticker LILAK, the company focuses on developing advanced broadband networks and delivering entertainment and connectivity solutions across Europe.

The company’s core products include high-speed cable broadband, digital and interactive television, fixed-line telephony, and mobile services.