LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.08.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Mkm lowered shares of LivePerson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded LivePerson from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Roth Capital cut LivePerson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 374,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $374,835. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,834 shares of company stock worth $6,839. Insiders own 9.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPSN. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in LivePerson by 407.4% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,811 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LivePerson by 36.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of LivePerson by 61.5% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,407 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in shares of LivePerson during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of LivePerson by 132.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,985 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company's stock.

LivePerson Stock Down 8.8 %

LivePerson stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $0.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,440,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,228. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $1.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. LivePerson has a 12 month low of $0.49 and a 12 month high of $6.41. The company has a market capitalization of $44.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.49.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $95.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.54 million. LivePerson had a negative return on equity of 47.71% and a negative net margin of 24.99%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LivePerson will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.