Lumen Technologies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LUMN)

Key Points

• Investors showed strong interest in Lumen Technologies, purchasing 22,530 call options, a 42% increase over the typical daily volume.
• Lumen reported an EPS of ($0.03), outperforming the consensus estimate of ($0.24), but its quarterly revenue decreased by 5.4% year-over-year.
• Recently, CEO Kathleen E. Johnson and CFO Christopher Stansbury made significant insider purchases, acquiring 135,870 and 42,000 shares, respectively.

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 22,530 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the average daily volume of 15,902 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Lumen Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $4.10 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Lumen Technologies to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Lumen Technologies from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lumen Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.14.

Lumen Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUMN traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.06. 14,494,449 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,106,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.98, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.13. Lumen Technologies has a 52-week low of $3.01 and a 52-week high of $10.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.14 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.58 and a 200-day moving average of $4.27.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The technology company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.21. Lumen Technologies had a negative return on equity of 158.40% and a negative net margin of 9.19%.The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lumen Technologies will post -0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Christopher Stansbury acquired 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.44 per share, for a total transaction of $177,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 535,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,375,400. The trade was a 8.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathleen E. Johnson acquired 135,870 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.69 per share, with a total value of $501,360.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 9,616,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,486,534.43. This trade represents a 1.43% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 217,870 shares of company stock valued at $859,140 over the last three months. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lumen Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lumen Technologies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 76,905 shares of the technology company's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 23.6% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 25.9% during the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 13,567 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 401,843 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 3,308 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 132.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,954 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares during the period. 66.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lumen Technologies Company Profile

Lumen Technologies, Inc, a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated products and services to business and residential customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Business and Mass Markets. It offers dark fiber, edge cloud services, internet protocol, managed security, software-defined wide area networks, secure access service edge, unified communications and collaboration, and optical wavelengths services; ethernet and VPN data networks services; and legacy services to manage cash flow, including time division multiplexing voice, private line, and other legacy services, as well as sells communication equipment, and IT solutions.