Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.64 and last traded at $35.99, with a volume of 56586 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on LQDT shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Liquidity Services from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st.

Liquidity Services Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 57.30 and a beta of 1.37.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 18.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In other Liquidity Services news, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total transaction of $813,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,675.41. This trade represents a 57.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 16,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $564,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,146,032.80. This trade represents a 32.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,668 shares of company stock valued at $3,331,558 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 29.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Liquidity Services by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 35,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

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.