Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, an increase of 17.4% from the January 15th total of 877,700 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 302,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LQDT. Craig Hallum increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

LQDT stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.46. The company had a trading volume of 318,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,329. Liquidity Services has a 52 week low of $16.79 and a 52 week high of $39.72. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.98 and a 200 day moving average of $26.84.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 at Liquidity Services

In other news, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.22, for a total transaction of $1,661,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 103,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,443,585.20. This represents a 32.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Weiskircher sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.99, for a total transaction of $367,601.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,985,049.99. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,388 shares of company stock worth $5,263,991 over the last three months. Company insiders own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidity Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 307.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,427 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 29,746 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 102.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,927 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 30,360 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Institutional investors own 71.15% of the company's stock.

Liquidity Services Company Profile

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.