LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Given Hold Rating at Needham & Company LLC

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded LivePerson from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LivePerson has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $0.83.

LivePerson Stock Down 9.0 %

LPSN opened at $0.79 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $0.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $71.68 million, a P/E ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.75. LivePerson has a 12 month low of $0.52 and a 12 month high of $2.08.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LivePerson news, CEO Anthony John Sabino sold 166,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,628,345.60. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Pegueros sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 value of $27,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 310,204 shares of company stock valued at $287,471 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in LivePerson by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,006 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of LivePerson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 18,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of LivePerson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 772,587 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 21,992 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 33,021 shares during the period. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.