Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) Trading Up 6.7% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Lumen Technologies' stock price increased by 6.7% on Wednesday, climbing to a high of $6.38 before closing at $6.01, despite a 23% decrease in trading volume compared to its average.
• Analysts have mixed views on Lumen Technologies, with Goldman Sachs rating it 'neutral' with a price target of $4.10 and Raymond James upgrading it to 'outperform' with a target of $5.00.
• Insider trading activity shows both the CEO and CFO buying significant shares, indicating confidence in the company, with insider ownership comprising 2.30% of total stock.

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 6.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $6.38 and last traded at $6.01. Approximately 9,605,895 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 12,427,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lumen Technologies Stock Up 7.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.98, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.23. The stock has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of -5.13 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lumen Technologies

In related news, CEO Kathleen E. Johnson bought 135,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.69 per share, with a total value of $501,360.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,616,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,486,534.43. The trade was a 1.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christopher Stansbury bought 42,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.29 per share, for a total transaction of $180,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 518,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,220. This represents a 8.82% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 217,870 shares of company stock worth $859,140 over the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Front Street Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 1.1% in the second quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,969,084 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $52,425,000 after acquiring an additional 132,131 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its stake in Lumen Technologies by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 11,486,835 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,312,000 after buying an additional 364,436 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lumen Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,923,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 6.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,928,906 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,869,000 after purchasing an additional 652,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 8.5% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 9,520,500 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,700,000 after purchasing an additional 748,185 shares in the last quarter. 66.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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