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

StockNews.com cut shares of Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Craig Hallum upped their target price on Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ LQDT opened at $32.71 on Friday. Liquidity Services has a twelve month low of $13.99 and a twelve month high of $39.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.61 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.05.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 16,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $564,014.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,146,032.80. This trade represents a 32.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total value of $63,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $549,605.10. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,668 shares of company stock worth $3,331,558. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in Liquidity Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Liquidity Services by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 205,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,631,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Liquidity Services by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 82,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Liquidity Services by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth $856,000. 71.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.