Aviva PLC reduced its stake in Centurylink Inc (NYSE:CTL) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,222 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 103,947 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Centurylink were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Centurylink during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Doyle Wealth Management bought a new stake in Centurylink during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new stake in Centurylink during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Centurylink by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intercontinental Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centurylink during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.83% of the company’s stock.
In other news, Director Steven T. Clontz purchased 8,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.20 per share, for a total transaction of $141,160.40. Following the purchase, the director now owns 178,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,078,284. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven T. Clontz purchased 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.95 per share, with a total value of $95,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 202,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,417,891.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 149,207 shares of company stock valued at $1,815,280 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Centurylink from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 4th. ValuEngine cut Centurylink from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 14th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Centurylink from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 6th. Citigroup cut Centurylink from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $14.48 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 5th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson set a $16.00 target price on Centurylink and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.18.
Shares of CTL opened at $12.30 on Friday. Centurylink Inc has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $24.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.78.
Centurylink (NYSE:CTL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Centurylink had a positive return on equity of 5.68% and a negative net margin of 7.39%. The company had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. Centurylink’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Centurylink Inc will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 11th. Centurylink’s payout ratio is 181.51%.
Centurylink Profile
CenturyLink, Inc provides various communications services to residential, business, wholesale, and governmental customers primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Business and Consumer. The company offers virtual private network data network services; Ethernet services; Internet protocol services; CenturyLink Prism TV that allows customers to watch television or cable channels and record up to four shows on one home digital video recorder; and Vyvx, which provides audio and video feeds over fiber or satellite for broadcast and production customers, as well as satellite digital television services.
