Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $12.40 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $24.70. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on LBTYA. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Liberty Global from $20.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lowered Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $13.10 to $12.60 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Liberty Global from $38.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.13.

Liberty Global Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LBTYA opened at $11.88 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.17 and a beta of 1.25. Liberty Global has a 12-month low of $10.93 and a 12-month high of $21.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Global news, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 84,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.56, for a total value of $1,224,539.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,312 shares in the company, valued at $776,222.72. This represents a 61.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 212.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,289,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236,696 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the second quarter worth $480,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Global by 63.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Liberty Global in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,317,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Global by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 192,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 47,956 shares in the last quarter. 37.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Liberty Global

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.