LivePerson Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:LPSN)

LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 2,517 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 417% compared to the typical daily volume of 487 call options.

LivePerson Stock Performance

LPSN opened at $0.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. LivePerson has a 1-year low of $0.49 and a 1-year high of $6.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.48.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $95.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.54 million. Research analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LPSN shares. Barclays reduced their target price on LivePerson from $3.50 to $1.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Roth Capital lowered LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley dropped their target price on LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LivePerson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LivePerson news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $374,835. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,834 shares of company stock worth $6,839. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LivePerson

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LivePerson by 131.3% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 406,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 230,564 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LivePerson by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,132,745 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,823,000 after purchasing an additional 418,503 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in LivePerson by 99.0% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 185,262 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 92,178 shares in the last quarter. Vector Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,089,000. Finally, Options Solutions LLC bought a new stake in LivePerson during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.