Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.82, but opened at $2.97. Altice USA shares last traded at $2.86, with a volume of 439,511 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ATUS. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James raised Altice USA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $3.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Altice USA from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altice USA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.41.

Altice USA Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.68 and a 200 day moving average of $2.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -11.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.16). Equities analysts expect that Altice USA, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Altice USA

In other news, Director Alt S.A.R.L. Next sold 805,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $19,728,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,535,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $478,620,975. This represents a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,052,288 shares of company stock valued at $197,281,056. 52.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altice USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 487.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 880,985 shares of the company's stock worth $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 730,985 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 101.3% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 639,005 shares of the company's stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 321,618 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 120.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,527,424 shares of the company's stock worth $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 834,030 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.85% of the company's stock.

About Altice USA

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 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.