Bank of America Corp DE Purchases 161,888 Shares of Charter Communications, Inc. $CHTR

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Charter Communications stake by 28.4%, acquiring 161,888 additional shares to own 731,708 shares valued at approximately $158 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 81.76% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Charter has an average “Reduce” rating, with five Buy, eight Hold, and six Sell ratings. Several firms recently cut their price targets, including Wells Fargo to $101 and UBS to $140.
• Charter beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $10.66 in EPS versus a $9.98 consensus estimate and $13.53 billion in revenue. However, revenue declined 1.7% year over year, while the stock traded at $153.17, well below its 12-month high of $285.82.

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR - Free Report) by 28.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 731,708 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 161,888 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.59% of Charter Communications worth $157,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CHTR. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Charter Communications by 129.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,356,000 after buying an additional 6,691 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 913 shares of the company's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 48.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,339 shares of the company's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Charter Communications by 141.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 94 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Charter Communications by 451.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 733 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. 81.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CHTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Charter Communications from $160.00 to $101.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Charter Communications from $235.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Charter Communications from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Charter Communications to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charter Communications has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $226.88.

Charter Communications Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:CHTR opened at $153.17 on Thursday. Charter Communications, Inc. has a 12 month low of $111.55 and a 12 month high of $285.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.32. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.98, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.70.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $10.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.98 by $0.68. Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 23.71%. The business had revenue of $13.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.18 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Charter Communications, Inc. will post 42.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Rutledge sold 69,633 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.45, for a total transaction of $10,058,486.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $573,177.60. The trade was a 94.61% 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 Mauricio Ramos bought 9,929 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $140.93 per share, with a total value of $1,399,293.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,721,217.37. The trade was a 105.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Charter Communications Company Profile

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter's service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company's consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.

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