Short Interest in LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Increases By 20.3%

LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,120,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the March 31st total of 6,750,000 shares. Currently, 11.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

LivePerson Stock Down 7.7 %

LPSN stock opened at $0.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.34. The stock has a market cap of $44.13 million, a PE ratio of -0.39 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63. LivePerson has a fifty-two week low of $0.45 and a fifty-two week high of $6.41.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $95.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.54 million. LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.99% and a negative return on equity of 47.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPSN. Options Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LivePerson by 497.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 8,809 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in LivePerson by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,124 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 5,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of LivePerson from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of LivePerson in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LivePerson has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.58.

About LivePerson

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.