Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Share Price Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.26 and traded as high as $9.59. Liberty Global shares last traded at $9.58, with a volume of 13,882,712 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBTYA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Global from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. New Street Research raised shares of Liberty Global from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Global from $12.10 to $11.90 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Liberty Global to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Global currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.78.

Liberty Global Trading Up 2.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.97.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 62.12% and a negative return on equity of 28.83%. Research analysts expect that Liberty Global Ltd will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Global news, EVP Enrique Rodriguez bought 211,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.45 per share, with a total value of $1,996,907.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 602,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,472.10. The trade was a 54.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael T. Fries purchased 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.37 per share, with a total value of $1,030,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,238,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,979.25. This represents a 9.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 4.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Global

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lancaster Investment Management acquired a new position in Liberty Global in the third quarter valued at about $34,336,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 9.7% during the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 23,644,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,097,847 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 17.3% in the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 11,752,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,092,000 after buying an additional 1,734,423 shares during the period. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,759,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Liberty Global by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,832,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,782,000 after acquiring an additional 521,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global plc is an international telecommunications and media company that invests in and operates broadband, mobile, fixed-line, video and related digital services. Its offerings generally include high-speed internet, television, telephony, mobile connectivity and business communications services for residential and enterprise customers.

The company has operations and strategic investments across Europe. Its portfolio includes Sunrise in Switzerland and Telenet in Belgium, as well as 50% interests in Virgin Media O2 in the United Kingdom, a joint venture with Telefónica, and VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands, a joint venture with Vodafone.