S&CO Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

S&CO Inc. grew its stake in Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 258,066 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,995 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Global were worth $3,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 8.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 470,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 35.7% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares in the last quarter. 37.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBTYA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $13.10 to $12.60 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Liberty Global from $20.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Liberty Global from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Liberty Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.70 to $12.40 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.75.

Liberty Global Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:LBTYA opened at $11.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.55. Liberty Global Ltd. has a 52 week low of $10.55 and a 52 week high of $21.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Nicholas V. Tompras sold 57,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.94, for a total value of $737,580.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,019.82. This trade represents a 77.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Global 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.