Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Craig Hallum upped their price target on Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Liquidity Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ LQDT opened at $31.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $988.28 million, a PE ratio of 42.45 and a beta of 1.26. Liquidity Services has a 52-week low of $16.79 and a 52-week high of $39.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.57.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 20.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Beatriz V. Infante sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $176,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 82,990 shares in the company, valued at $2,934,526.40. This represents a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Novelette Murray sold 7,938 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total transaction of $269,574.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,706.76. The trade was a 17.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 170,326 shares of company stock worth $5,710,365 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidity Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LQDT. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Liquidity Services by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 881,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,092,000 after purchasing an additional 76,794 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Liquidity Services by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 852,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,433,000 after buying an additional 13,947 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Liquidity Services by 651.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 798,688 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,790,000 after buying an additional 692,390 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Liquidity Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 515,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 457,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,768,000 after acquiring an additional 167,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Liquidity Services Company Profile

Liquidity Services, Inc provides e-commerce marketplaces, self-directed auction listing tools, and value-added services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: GovDeals, Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG), Capital Assets Group (CAG), and Machinio. Its marketplaces include liquidation.com that enable corporations to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and retail capital assets; GovDeals marketplace, which provides self-directed service solutions in which sellers list their own assets that enables local and state government entities, and commercial businesses located in the United States and Canada to sell surplus and salvage assets; and AllSurplus, a centralized marketplace that connects global buyer base with assets from across the network of marketplaces in a single destination.