Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN)

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 30,776 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,470 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on LUMN shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Lumen Technologies from $10.00 to $8.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lumen Technologies from $9.00 to $7.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $8.50 to $7.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lumen Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a report on Friday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lumen Technologies presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $7.86.

Lumen Technologies Trading Up 4.8%

LUMN traded up $0.33 on Friday, hitting $7.13. 9,317,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,492,508. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.51. The company has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 1.78. Lumen Technologies has a twelve month low of $5.45 and a twelve month high of $11.95.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Lumen Technologies will post -0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lumen Technologies

In related news, CEO Kathleen Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.13 per share, with a total value of $613,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 142,261,845 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,092,571,000 after acquiring an additional 4,796,141 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 324.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,211,742 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $172,585,000 after buying an additional 16,981,326 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,390,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $142,894,000 after acquiring an additional 473,242 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,994,640 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 144,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lumen Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,557,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.19% of the company’s stock.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc (NYSE: LUMN) is a communications and technology company that provides connectivity, networking and digital services to businesses, government organizations and other institutions. Its offerings include fiber-based internet access, wide-area networking, ethernet, software-defined networking, managed network services, cloud connectivity, cybersecurity and unified communications.

The company operates one of the largest fiber networks in the United States and also provides international connectivity through its global network infrastructure.