Craig Hallum Lowers LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Price Target to $1.00

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Craig Hallum from $3.00 to $1.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Craig Hallum’s target price suggests a potential upside of 68.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on LPSN. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Roth Capital downgraded LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley decreased their target price on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of LivePerson in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LivePerson currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1.58.

LivePerson Stock Performance

Shares of LPSN stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $0.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,450,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,917,671. The business’s fifty day moving average is $0.83 and its 200-day moving average is $2.25. The firm has a market cap of $52.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.61. LivePerson has a 1-year low of $0.45 and a 1-year high of $6.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $95.54 million. On average, research analysts forecast that LivePerson will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LivePerson

In other news, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.51, for a total transaction of $33,572.28. Following the completion of 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. Insiders sold a total of 73,662 shares of company stock worth $40,411 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LivePerson

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted 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. grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 77.0% in 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 acquiring 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 acquiring an additional 29,957 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in LivePerson by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,258 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 5,151 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew 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 buying an additional 18,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.