LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm cut shares of LivePerson from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of LivePerson from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LivePerson currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $2.58.

LivePerson Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:LPSN opened at $0.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.40. LivePerson has a fifty-two week low of $0.45 and a fifty-two week high of $6.41.

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

Insider Transactions at LivePerson

In other news, Director William Wesemann acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at $374,835. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,223.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at $374,835. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,662 shares of company stock valued at $40,411. Insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in LivePerson by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 406,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 230,564 shares in the last quarter. Options Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. raised its stake in LivePerson by 119.5% during the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 856,431 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 466,320 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in LivePerson by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,124 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in LivePerson by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 377,719 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 168,370 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.