Lumen Technologies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LUMN)

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 76,952 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 157% compared to the typical daily volume of 29,922 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Lumen Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $4.25 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lumen Technologies from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Lumen Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.88.

Key Lumen Technologies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumen Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Kathleen Johnson bought 78,685 shares (~$499.6k at ~$6.35), a ~0.93% increase in her stake — an insider purchase that signals management confidence and likely encouraged buyer interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat EPS expectations (reported positive EPS vs. street loss) and management emphasized strong AI-driven fiber/network demand and large PCF deals, supporting the narrative of improving enterprise demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported Q1 CY2026 sales topped estimates and reiterated the strategic shift to enterprise/network investments — a medium‑term growth narrative that investors reward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan set LUMN to “Hold” (market perform), and other brokers made modest target adjustments — mixed analyst opinions support trading interest but no strong consensus upgrade. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman and UBS nudged targets higher (to $7.25 and $6.00 respectively) but kept “neutral” ratings — incremental support rather than conviction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-market coverage flagged a ~3% jump ahead of the session, reflecting immediate market reaction to the insider buy + earnings commentary. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup cut its price target (from $11 to $10) — while still above current levels, this is a downward revision that signals caution on near‑term catalysts. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James flagged growth hurdles and reduced outlook expectations, and analysts/coverage noted year‑over‑year revenue declines (~9% in Q4), which keep downside risk if revenue reacceleration stalls. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage documented sharp intraday swings (AAII flagged a ~19.7% pullback previously), underlining elevated volatility that can amplify both gains and losses. Read More.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lumen Technologies

In other news, CEO Kathleen E. Johnson acquired 78,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.35 per share, with a total value of $499,649.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,562,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,372,395.70. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lumen Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUMN. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 132.3% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 160.0% during the second quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Lumen Technologies by 3,527.9% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lumen Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 66.19% of the company’s stock.

Lumen Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Lumen Technologies stock traded up $1.74 on Friday, hitting $7.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,293,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,394,043. Lumen Technologies has a 1 year low of $3.01 and a 1 year high of $11.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.02. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 1.51.

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.44. Lumen Technologies had a negative return on equity of 158.40% and a negative net margin of 14.02%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lumen Technologies will post -0.87 EPS for the current year.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies is a multinational technology company specializing in integrated network, edge cloud, security and collaboration services for enterprise and public sector clients. The company’s core offerings include high-capacity fiber and IP-based connectivity, managed edge computing solutions designed to accelerate applications and data processing closer to end users, and cybersecurity services ranging from DDoS protection to unified threat management. Through its unified portfolio, Lumen enables organizations to support digital transformation initiatives, modernize infrastructure and enhance operational resilience.

Leveraging one of the largest fiber footprints in North America, as well as infrastructure in Latin America and parts of Europe, Lumen connects customers across more than 60 countries.