Lumen Technologies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LUMN)

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 76,952 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 157% compared to the average volume of 29,922 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LUMN. Citigroup decreased their price target on Lumen Technologies from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lumen Technologies from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised Lumen Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Lumen Technologies from $5.50 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lumen Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.88.

Lumen Technologies Stock Up 27.8%

Shares of LUMN stock traded up $1.74 on Friday, hitting $7.97. The company had a trading volume of 18,293,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,394,043. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 1.51. Lumen Technologies has a twelve month low of $3.01 and a twelve month high of $11.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.02.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.44. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Lumen Technologies had a negative net margin of 14.02% and a negative return on equity of 158.40%. Lumen Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lumen Technologies will post -0.87 EPS for the current year.

Lumen Technologies News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumen Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Kathleen Johnson bought 78,685 shares (~$499.6k at ~$6.35), a ~0.93% increase in her stake — an insider purchase that signals management confidence and likely encouraged buyer interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat EPS expectations (reported positive EPS vs. street loss) and management emphasized strong AI-driven fiber/network demand and large PCF deals, supporting the narrative of improving enterprise demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported Q1 CY2026 sales topped estimates and reiterated the strategic shift to enterprise/network investments — a medium‑term growth narrative that investors reward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan set LUMN to “Hold” (market perform), and other brokers made modest target adjustments — mixed analyst opinions support trading interest but no strong consensus upgrade. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman and UBS nudged targets higher (to $7.25 and $6.00 respectively) but kept “neutral” ratings — incremental support rather than conviction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-market coverage flagged a ~3% jump ahead of the session, reflecting immediate market reaction to the insider buy + earnings commentary. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup cut its price target (from $11 to $10) — while still above current levels, this is a downward revision that signals caution on near‑term catalysts. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James flagged growth hurdles and reduced outlook expectations, and analysts/coverage noted year‑over‑year revenue declines (~9% in Q4), which keep downside risk if revenue reacceleration stalls. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage documented sharp intraday swings (AAII flagged a ~19.7% pullback previously), underlining elevated volatility that can amplify both gains and losses. Read More.

Insider Activity at Lumen Technologies

In other news, CEO Kathleen E. Johnson purchased 78,685 shares of Lumen Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.35 per share, for a total transaction of $499,649.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,562,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,372,395.70. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumen Technologies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lumen Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,552,549 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $694,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295,177 shares during the period. Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lumen Technologies by 1.1% in the second quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,969,084 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,425,000 after acquiring an additional 132,131 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its stake in Lumen Technologies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 11,486,835 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,312,000 after buying an additional 364,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lumen Technologies in the second quarter worth $47,923,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lumen Technologies by 6.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,928,906 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,869,000 after purchasing an additional 652,124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.19% of the company’s stock.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies is a multinational technology company specializing in integrated network, edge cloud, security and collaboration services for enterprise and public sector clients. The company’s core offerings include high-capacity fiber and IP-based connectivity, managed edge computing solutions designed to accelerate applications and data processing closer to end users, and cybersecurity services ranging from DDoS protection to unified threat management. Through its unified portfolio, Lumen enables organizations to support digital transformation initiatives, modernize infrastructure and enhance operational resilience.

Leveraging one of the largest fiber footprints in North America, as well as infrastructure in Latin America and parts of Europe, Lumen connects customers across more than 60 countries.