Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 33,448 put options on Liberty Global, a surge of 4,585% above the typical daily volume of 714 puts.
• Insider selling and ownership changes: Director J. David Wargo sold 55,000 shares at $11.54 each, cutting his stake by about 50.5%. Insiders now own 4.34% of the company.
• Stock and earnings pressure: Liberty Global fell to $9.65 on Friday and recently reported quarterly EPS of -$1.07, missing expectations. Analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $16.02 target price.

Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 33,448 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 4,585% compared to the typical daily volume of 714 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.54, for a total value of $634,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,729.04. This represents a 50.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Global

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Liberty Global by 79.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Global during the second quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. 37.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LBTYA shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Global from $12.60 to $12.10 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Liberty Global from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Global from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.02.

Liberty Global Price Performance

NASDAQ:LBTYA traded down $0.64 on Friday, reaching $9.65. 4,384,235 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,350,574. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66. Liberty Global has a 12 month low of $9.54 and a 12 month high of $13.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of -0.60 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.59). Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 47.65% and a negative net margin of 109.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Global will post -1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global plc operates as a leading international telecommunications and television company, offering a wide array of broadband internet, digital cable television, fixed-line telephony and mobile services. Through its extensive fiber and hybrid-fiber coaxial networks, the company delivers high-speed internet connectivity, video on demand and interactive television platforms to residential and business customers. Its service portfolio includes digital voice, managed Wi-Fi solutions, home security and converged connectivity bundles designed to meet evolving consumer and enterprise demands.

The company's footprint spans key European markets, including the United Kingdom and Ireland under the Virgin Media brand, the Netherlands through Ziggo, Belgium via Telenet, and operations in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland and Luxembourg.

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