LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on LPSN. Barclays decreased their price target on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho decreased their price target on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Capital cut LivePerson from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut LivePerson from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $3.08.

LivePerson Trading Down 9.0 %

LPSN opened at $0.46 on Monday. LivePerson has a one year low of $0.46 and a one year high of $6.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.80 million, a PE ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.06). LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.99% and a negative return on equity of 47.71%. The business had revenue of $95.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LivePerson will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LivePerson

In other LivePerson news, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other LivePerson news, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.51, for a total value of $33,572.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,047 shares in the company, valued at $61,223.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,835. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,662 shares of company stock worth $40,411 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of LivePerson by 12.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 93,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 10,027 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LivePerson by 77.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,737,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 755,945 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of LivePerson by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 59,914 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 29,957 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of LivePerson by 2.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,258 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 5,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of LivePerson by 13.4% during the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 152,112 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

LivePerson Company Profile

LivePerson, Inc engages in conversational artificial intelligence. It enables brands to leverage the Conversational Cloud's intelligence engine to connect with consumers through an integrated suite of mobile and online business messaging technologies. The company offers the Conversational Cloud, an enterprise-class digital customer conversation platform, which enables businesses and consumers to connect through conversational channels, such as voice, in-app, and mobile messaging.