American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stake in Liberty Global Ltd $LBTYA

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Liberty Global Ltd by 66.5%, acquiring an additional 490,284 shares, raising its total ownership to approximately 1.23 million shares valued at around $14.1 million.
• Liberty Global reported a significant earnings miss for the last quarter, with an EPS of ($8.09) compared to a consensus estimate of ($0.55), indicating ongoing financial challenges.
• Current analyst ratings for Liberty Global are mixed, with two analysts recommending a Buy rating, five a Hold rating, and one a Sell rating, as the company faces a volatile stock price with a target price range between $11.00 and $21.00.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Free Report) by 66.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,227,160 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 490,284 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Liberty Global worth $14,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Global by 54.4% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 56,317 shares of the company's stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 19,837 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Global during the first quarter worth $10,809,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Liberty Global during the 1st quarter worth $1,315,000. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Global during the 1st quarter worth $763,000. Finally, Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Liberty Global by 90.3% during the 1st quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,822 shares of the company's stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 77,722 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBTYA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Liberty Global from $10.60 to $11.80 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Berenberg Bank raised Liberty Global to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Liberty Global from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Liberty Global and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 60,000 shares of Liberty Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.31, for a total value of $678,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,718.20. The trade was a 64.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Miranda Curtis sold 42,600 shares of Liberty Global stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $501,402.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 129,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,521,919.85. This trade represents a 24.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 136,980 shares of company stock worth $1,577,091. 11.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LBTYA traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.74. 1,349,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,866,169. Liberty Global Ltd has a 52-week low of $9.02 and a 52-week high of $21.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.55 and a 200-day moving average of $10.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 1.17.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($8.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by ($7.54). The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 60.38% and a negative return on equity of 22.64%. Analysts forecast that Liberty Global Ltd will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service.