Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on LQDT. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LQDT traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 364,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,506. Liquidity Services has a fifty-two week low of $15.51 and a fifty-two week high of $39.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.01 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.13.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 20.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Daunt sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.68, for a total value of $144,017.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,372,029.12. This represents a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total transaction of $813,540.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,675.41. This represents a 57.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,668 shares of company stock worth $3,331,558. Insiders own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidity Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth about $132,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Liquidity Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,908 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Liquidity Services by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 243,453 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,861,000 after acquiring an additional 18,450 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Liquidity Services by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,324 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,556 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. 71.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Liquidity Services

Liquidity Services, Inc provides e-commerce marketplaces, self-directed auction listing tools, and value-added services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: GovDeals, Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG), Capital Assets Group (CAG), and Machinio. Its marketplaces include liquidation.com that enable corporations to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and retail capital assets; GovDeals marketplace, which provides self-directed service solutions in which sellers list their own assets that enables local and state government entities, and commercial businesses located in the United States and Canada to sell surplus and salvage assets; and AllSurplus, a centralized marketplace that connects global buyer base with assets from across the network of marketplaces in a single destination.