Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) Stock Sees Unusually High Put Option Buying

Key Points

• Put-option activity more than doubled: Traders bought 32,015 Lumen Technologies put options, 104% above the average daily volume, signaling heightened bearish or hedging interest.
• CEO Kathleen Johnson bought shares: Johnson purchased 100,000 shares at an average price of $6.13, while institutional investors collectively own 66.19% of the company.
• Shares remain under pressure: LUMN fell to $5.59, near its 52-week low, despite beating quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. Analysts maintain a consensus “Reduce” rating, with an average price target of $7.86.

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 32,015 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 104% compared to the average daily volume of 15,662 put options.

Insider Transactions at Lumen Technologies

In related news, CEO Kathleen Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.13 per share, for a total transaction of $613,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $613,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUMN. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 1.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 78,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lumen Technologies by 4.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,875 shares of the technology company's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Lumen Technologies by 13.6% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 12,174 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 177,950 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lumen Technologies by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,803 shares of the technology company's stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.19% of the company's stock.

Lumen Technologies Trading Down 0.1%

LUMN stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,403,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,550,355. The company's 50 day moving average is $6.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.45. Lumen Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $5.38 and a fifty-two week high of $11.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of -5.49 and a beta of 1.78.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. Lumen Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lumen Technologies will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUMN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lumen Technologies from $8.50 to $7.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Lumen Technologies from $10.00 to $8.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Lumen Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lumen Technologies from $9.00 to $7.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lumen Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $7.86.

Lumen Technologies Company Profile

Lumen Technologies, Inc is a telecommunications and technology company that provides connectivity, networking, cloud, security and communications services to businesses, government organizations and other customers. Its offerings include fiber-based internet access, wide-area networking, software-defined networking, managed network services, cybersecurity, voice and unified communications, and data center and edge-computing solutions.

The company also serves residential customers in selected U.S.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.