Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Trading Down 5.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) were down 5.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $1.20 and last traded at $1.2150. 561,363 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,885,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on OPTU. UBS Group decreased their price target on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Optimum Communications from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Optimum Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $1.50 to $0.50 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Optimum Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $0.95.

Optimum Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $545.56 million, a P/E ratio of -0.12 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Optimum Communications news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total transaction of $31,800.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 1,199,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,651.79. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $80,000 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 43.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Optimum Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Optimum Communications by 365.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,171,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,908 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 4.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 806,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 36,260 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,516,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,673,000 after purchasing an additional 524,169 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Optimum Communications by 46.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,397,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,016,000 after buying an additional 2,031,971 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Optimum Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $88,000. 54.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Optimum Communications Company Profile

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.