Barclays Cuts Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Price Target to $28.00

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA – Get Rating) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, The Fly reports. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 27.62% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on LBTYA. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Liberty Global from $54.50 to $52.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 9th. Finally, TheStreet cut Liberty Global from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.22.

Shares of LBTYA stock opened at $21.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Liberty Global has a fifty-two week low of $21.51 and a fifty-two week high of $30.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.59. The firm has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.17.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Liberty Global had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 127.35%. As a group, research analysts expect that Liberty Global will post -0.73 EPS for the current year.

In other news, EVP Bryan H. Hall sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $501,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Andrea Salvato sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.52, for a total value of $1,060,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,690 shares of company stock worth $3,612,997 over the last 90 days. 9.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Global during the first quarter worth $347,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Global by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Liberty Global in the 1st quarter valued at about $894,000. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,403,000. Finally, Ronit Capital LLP grew its stake in Liberty Global by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Ronit Capital LLP now owns 185,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,726,000 after buying an additional 23,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.05% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Global (Get Rating)

Liberty Global plc, 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 intelligent WiFi features; security; smart home, online storage solutions, and Web spaces; Connect Box, a set-top or Horizon box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service; community Wi-Fi via routers in home, which provides access to the internet; and public Wi-Fi access points in train stations, hotels, bars, restaurants, and other public places.

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