Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDK) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Liberty Broadband Corporation (NASDAQ:LBRDK) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $44.58, but opened at $47.07. Liberty Broadband shares last traded at $48.1280, with a volume of 450,944 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRDK has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Liberty Broadband in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liberty Broadband from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Broadband currently has an average rating of “Sell”.

Liberty Broadband Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.99.

Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.70 million. Liberty Broadband had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 105.04%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Broadband Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Broadband

In other news, Director J David Wargo sold 2,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.10, for a total value of $136,071.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,628.20. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Broadband

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Liberty Broadband by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,162,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,272,000 after purchasing an additional 184,623 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Liberty Broadband by 6.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,943,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,006,000 after buying an additional 171,378 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Liberty Broadband by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,793,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,786,000 after buying an additional 1,035,126 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Liberty Broadband by 493.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,270,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,271,000 after buying an additional 1,887,742 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Broadband by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,048,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,158,000 after acquiring an additional 688,092 shares during the last quarter. 80.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Liberty Broadband

Liberty Broadband Corporation is a publicly traded holding company that principally invests in broadband and cable businesses. Established in 2014 as a spin-off from Liberty Interactive Corporation, the company was designed to provide investors with targeted exposure to high-growth broadband assets. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, Liberty Broadband uses a tracking-stock structure to reflect the performance of its key investments rather than operating a stand-alone service business.

The company’s primary asset is its substantial equity interest in Charter Communications, one of the largest cable and broadband providers in the United States.