Barclays Lowers Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Price Target to $20.00

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Barclays from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.99% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LBTYA. UBS Group decreased their price target on Liberty Global from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Liberty Global from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC lowered shares of Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.25.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

LBTYA stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.53. The company had a trading volume of 785,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,711. Liberty Global has a 1-year low of $15.01 and a 1-year high of $20.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 13.69% and a negative net margin of 37.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.59) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Liberty Global will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Global

In other news, Director J David Wargo sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total value of $520,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 159,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,769,615.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $520,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 159,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,769,615.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea Salvato sold 32,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.70, for a total transaction of $573,533.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,462.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,629 shares of company stock worth $2,046,783 in the last three months. 11.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Global

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Liberty Global by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 14,141,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,293,000 after buying an additional 80,267 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in Liberty Global by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,518,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,290,000 after purchasing an additional 352,488 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Liberty Global during the 4th quarter valued at $73,550,000. CQS US LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. CQS US LLC now owns 3,405,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Liberty Global in the 4th quarter worth $52,943,000. 37.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service.