LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LPSN. Roth Capital downgraded LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Mkm downgraded LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, B. Riley cut their price objective on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.08.

LivePerson Stock Performance

NASDAQ LPSN opened at $1.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $94.28 million, a P/E ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 1.52. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $2.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.88. LivePerson has a fifty-two week low of $0.96 and a fifty-two week high of $6.41.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $95.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.54 million. LivePerson had a negative net margin of 24.99% and a negative return on equity of 47.71%. Sell-side analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at LivePerson

In other news, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 374,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,835. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Vector Capital Management, L.P acquired 26,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.59 per share, with a total value of $95,601.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,164,491 shares in the company, valued at $36,490,522.69. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Wesemann acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 374,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,835. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 685,852 shares of company stock valued at $2,148,063. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vector Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in LivePerson in the fourth quarter worth about $37,089,000. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in LivePerson in the first quarter worth about $156,410,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in LivePerson in the fourth quarter worth about $6,102,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in LivePerson in the first quarter worth about $5,625,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in LivePerson by 1,629.1% in the first quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,082,447 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.