LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

LPSN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm lowered LivePerson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered LivePerson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LivePerson currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.08.

LivePerson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPSN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $0.80. 3,508,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,514,663. LivePerson has a 12 month low of $0.76 and a 12 month high of $6.41. The firm has a market cap of $70.57 million, a PE ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.68.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.54 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LivePerson will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Vector Capital Management, L.P acquired 354,965 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.47 per share, with a total value of $1,231,728.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,899,456 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,821,112.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Wesemann acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 374,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $374,835. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 459,965 shares of company stock worth $1,336,829. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vector Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of LivePerson in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,089,000. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in shares of LivePerson during the 1st quarter worth about $156,410,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth about $6,102,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LivePerson during the 1st quarter worth about $5,625,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of LivePerson by 1,629.1% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,082,447 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,774,000 after buying an additional 1,019,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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