LivePerson’s (LPSN) Hold Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on LPSN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LivePerson from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Craig Hallum lowered shares of LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LivePerson currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $0.88.

LivePerson Price Performance

NASDAQ LPSN opened at $1.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.28 million, a PE ratio of -0.72 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. LivePerson has a 12 month low of $0.45 and a 12 month high of $2.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.15.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($1.23). The firm 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 quarter last year, the business posted ($0.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LivePerson will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LivePerson

In other LivePerson news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 84,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.85, for a total transaction of $72,202.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in LivePerson by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 906,027 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 267,827 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LivePerson by 146.1% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 73,794 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 43,804 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at $152,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in LivePerson during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. 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.