Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) Stock Sees Heavy Put Option Buying

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 32,015 put options on the company. This is an increase of 104% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,662 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lumen Technologies

In related news, CEO Kathleen Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.13 per share, for a total transaction of $613,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumen Technologies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LUMN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lumen Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $106,557,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Lumen Technologies in the second quarter valued at $74,242,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lumen Technologies by 87.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,489,367 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,558,000 after buying an additional 4,886,999 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 3.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 142,261,845 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,092,571,000 after buying an additional 4,796,141 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lumen Technologies during the second quarter worth about $24,767,000. 66.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on LUMN. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Lumen Technologies from $8.50 to $7.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Lumen Technologies from $10.00 to $8.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lumen Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.86.

Lumen Technologies Stock Performance

LUMN opened at $5.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.44. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.49 and a beta of 1.84. Lumen Technologies has a one year low of $5.38 and a one year high of $11.95.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lumen Technologies will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc is a telecommunications and technology company that provides connectivity, networking, cloud, security and communications services to businesses, government organizations and other customers. Its offerings include fiber-based internet access, wide-area networking, software-defined networking, managed network services, cybersecurity, voice and unified communications, and data center and edge-computing solutions.

The company also serves residential customers in selected U.S.