LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1.25.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LPSN shares. Craig Hallum cut LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of LivePerson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th.

LivePerson Stock Performance

LPSN opened at $1.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.13. The firm has a market cap of $119.14 million, a PE ratio of -0.86 and a beta of 1.59. LivePerson has a twelve month low of $0.45 and a twelve month high of $3.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.08). LivePerson had a negative return on equity of 111.48% and a negative net margin of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $74.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that LivePerson will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Deneen Collins sold 130,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.85, for a total value of $110,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 997,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $847,963.40. This represents a 11.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 84,944 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.85, for a total transaction of $72,202.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 227,848 shares of company stock valued at $203,091. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPSN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in LivePerson by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 402,345 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 15,032 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of LivePerson in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in LivePerson by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 456,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93,693 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in LivePerson in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC lifted its position in shares of LivePerson by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 32,121 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 16,385 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.