Brokerages Set Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Target Price at $17.75

Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.75.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LBTYA. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut shares of Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Liberty Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $24.70 to $12.40 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America cut Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $13.10 to $12.60 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Liberty Global from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

LBTYA opened at $11.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.07. Liberty Global has a 1-year low of $10.55 and a 1-year high of $21.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $6.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $7.25. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Liberty Global had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 23.09%. Analysts expect that Liberty Global will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Nicholas V. Tompras sold 57,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.94, for a total transaction of $737,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,019.82. This trade represents a 77.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 84,103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.56, for a total transaction of $1,224,539.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $776,222.72. The trade was a 61.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBTYA. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Global by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Liberty Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Global during the 4th quarter worth $128,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

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.