LivePerson’s (LPSN) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Capital cut LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of LivePerson in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.58.

LivePerson Price Performance

LPSN opened at $0.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.61. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $0.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.25. LivePerson has a twelve month low of $0.45 and a twelve month high of $6.41.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released 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 business had revenue of $95.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.54 million. LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.99% and a negative return on equity of 47.71%. Equities analysts expect that LivePerson will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LivePerson news, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of LivePerson 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,223.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.51, for a total value of $33,572.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 73,662 shares of company stock worth $40,411 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in LivePerson by 77.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,737,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after buying an additional 755,945 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in LivePerson in the fourth quarter worth $6,102,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in LivePerson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,033,841 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 55,175 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. raised its holdings in LivePerson by 119.5% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 856,431 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 466,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LivePerson in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,905,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.