Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,222 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,190 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Liberty Global were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Global by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased 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 valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Liberty Global by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Liberty Global by 0.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 37.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Nicholas V. Tompras sold 57,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.94, for a total transaction of $737,580.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,019.82. The trade was a 77.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 84,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.56, for a total transaction of $1,224,539.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,222.72. This represents a 61.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Global Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Liberty Global stock opened at $11.56 on Friday. Liberty Global Ltd. has a 1 year low of $10.55 and a 1 year high of $21.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.88.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $6.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $7.25. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Liberty Global had a net margin of 23.09% and a return on equity of 9.83%. Analysts forecast that Liberty Global Ltd. will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.