Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Position in LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in shares of LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN - Free Report) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 895,167 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 842,033 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.99% of LivePerson worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in LivePerson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of LivePerson by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 56,571 shares of the technology company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 33,021 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LivePerson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 772,587 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 21,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of LivePerson by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,920 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 18,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of LivePerson in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded LivePerson from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $0.83.

LivePerson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPSN traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $0.89. 511,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,867,462. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24. The stock has a market cap of $81.63 million, a P/E ratio of -0.58 and a beta of 1.75. LivePerson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $0.48 and a 1 year high of $2.08.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($1.23). LivePerson had a negative net margin of 18.72% and a negative return on equity of 111.48%. The company had revenue of $73.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that LivePerson, Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LivePerson

In other news, Director Vanessa Pegueros sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 139,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,993.70. The trade was a 17.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony John Sabino sold 166,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $149,591.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,920,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,628,345.60. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 310,204 shares of company stock valued at $287,471. Corporate insiders own 9.00% 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.