Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Makes New $242,000 Investment in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Liquidity Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Liquidity Services by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $32.66 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 43.55 and a beta of 1.26. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.79 and a 1-year high of $39.72.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 20.94%.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In other news, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $65,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,034.10. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark A. Shaffer sold 6,005 shares of Liquidity Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.59, for a total transaction of $213,717.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 36,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,193.97. This represents a 14.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,658 shares of company stock valued at $2,444,608. 28.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

About Liquidity Services

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.