LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Receives $0.88 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $0.88.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LPSN. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of LivePerson in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of LivePerson from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

LivePerson Stock Down 9.6 %

Shares of LPSN stock opened at $0.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. LivePerson has a one year low of $0.45 and a one year high of $2.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $61.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.51.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($1.23). The business had revenue of $73.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.12 million. LivePerson had a negative net margin of 18.72% and a negative return on equity of 111.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LivePerson will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LivePerson

In other LivePerson news, Director Vanessa Pegueros sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 139,993 shares in the company, valued at $125,993.70. This represents a 17.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Anthony John Sabino sold 111,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.98, for a total value of $108,799.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,243,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,942.62. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 307,233 shares of company stock valued at $285,391. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in LivePerson by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 906,027 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after buying an additional 267,827 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LivePerson by 146.1% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 73,794 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 43,804 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth about $152,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in LivePerson during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in LivePerson in the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.