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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on LBRDA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Liberty Broadband in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Liberty Broadband from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregory B. Maffei sold 71,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $5,863,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,827,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,815,066. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 196,542 shares of company stock worth $15,834,108 in the last quarter. 14.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Broadband

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LBRDA. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Liberty Broadband in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Liberty Broadband during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Liberty Broadband by 161.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in Liberty Broadband in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Liberty Broadband by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 990 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. 10.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Broadband Trading Up 0.5 %

Liberty Broadband stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.53. 265,754 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 100,022. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.06. Liberty Broadband has a 12 month low of $47.17 and a 12 month high of $100.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.15.

Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.66). The business had revenue of $262.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share.

About Liberty Broadband

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.