Short Interest in Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDA) Rises By 29.2%

Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDA) saw a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 148,200 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the December 31st total of 114,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 188,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gregory B. Maffei sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $9,967,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,435,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,447,313.44. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 196,542 shares of company stock worth $15,834,108 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Broadband

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Liberty Broadband during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Broadband during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,402,000. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in Liberty Broadband during the third quarter valued at approximately $581,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Liberty Broadband by 244.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in Liberty Broadband during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,235,000. 10.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Broadband Trading Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LBRDA traded down $5.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.96. 157,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 121,818. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.06. Liberty Broadband has a 52-week low of $47.17 and a 52-week high of $100.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.67.

Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.66). The firm had revenue of $262.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.40 million. Liberty Broadband had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 78.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Liberty Broadband in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Liberty Broadband from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Liberty Broadband Company Profile

Liberty Broadband Corporation engages in the communications businesses. The company’s GCI Holdings segment provides data, wireless, video, voice, and managed services to residential customers, businesses, governmental entities, educational, and medical institutions in Alaska under the GCI brand. Its Charter segment offers subscription-based Internet and video services, and mobile and voice services; and state-of-the-art residential and business services, which includes Spectrum Internet, TV, mobile and voice for small and medium-sized companies; Spectrum Business provides a suite of broadband products and services for businesses and government application; Spectrum Enterprise offers customized fiber-based solutions; Spectrum Reach provides advertising and production for the modern media landscape.