Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,220,000 shares, a growth of 16.3% from the December 15th total of 4,490,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LBTYA opened at $11.69 on Friday. Liberty Global has a 52-week low of $10.93 and a 52-week high of $21.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBTYA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Bank of America lowered shares of Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $13.10 to $12.60 in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group cut shares of Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Liberty Global from $38.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 84,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 53,312 shares in the company, valued at $776,222.72. This represents a 61.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Global

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Liberty Global by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Global by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Liberty Global during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Liberty Global by 62.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Global Company 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.