LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Receives $1.25 Average PT from Analysts

LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1.25.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LPSN shares. StockNews.com raised LivePerson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Craig Hallum cut LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

LivePerson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPSN opened at $1.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24. The stock has a market cap of $119.14 million, a PE ratio of -0.86 and a beta of 1.59. LivePerson has a fifty-two week low of $0.45 and a fifty-two week high of $3.29.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.08). LivePerson had a negative return on equity of 111.48% and a negative net margin of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $74.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts expect that LivePerson will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LivePerson

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 84,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.85, for a total transaction of $72,202.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Deneen Collins sold 130,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.85, for a total value of $110,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 997,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $847,963.40. This trade represents a 11.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 227,848 shares of company stock valued at $203,091 over the last three months. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LivePerson

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPSN. Wolverine Trading LLC grew its stake in shares of LivePerson by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 32,121 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 16,385 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in LivePerson in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in LivePerson in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in LivePerson during the second quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in LivePerson by 1,162.0% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 210,770 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 194,069 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LivePerson

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.