LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LPSN. Roth Capital lowered LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Mkm lowered LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, B. Riley cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.58.

LivePerson Trading Up 6.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPSN opened at $0.50 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1.26 and its 200 day moving average is $2.43. LivePerson has a 1 year low of $0.45 and a 1 year high of $6.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.62 million, a P/E ratio of -0.39 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.06). LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.99% and a negative return on equity of 47.71%. The business had revenue of $95.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.54 million. On average, research analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at $374,835. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.51, for a total value of $33,572.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,223.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,662 shares of company stock worth $40,411 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in LivePerson by 12.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 93,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 10,027 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in LivePerson by 77.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,737,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 755,945 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in LivePerson by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 59,914 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 29,957 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,258 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 5,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 13.4% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 152,112 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 18,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.