LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LPSN. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of LivePerson from $1.25 to $1.40 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on LivePerson from $2.00 to $0.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of LivePerson in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on LivePerson from $0.75 to $1.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $1.32.

LivePerson Trading Down 3.1 %

LPSN opened at $1.23 on Thursday. LivePerson has a fifty-two week low of $0.45 and a fifty-two week high of $4.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.08 and its 200 day moving average is $1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.00 million, a PE ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.04, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The technology company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.58). LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.23% and a negative return on equity of 101.10%. The company had revenue of $79.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.62 million. As a group, research analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LivePerson

In other news, EVP Alex Kroman sold 120,047 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.64, for a total transaction of $76,830.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO John Deneen Collins sold 83,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total transaction of $93,783.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,457.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex Kroman sold 120,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.64, for a total value of $76,830.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 246,696 shares of company stock worth $220,795 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Archon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in LivePerson in the first quarter valued at $5,313,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LivePerson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,102,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,656,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,634,000 after buying an additional 523,694 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 119.5% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 856,431 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after buying an additional 466,320 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Venture Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,519,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.