Arizona State Retirement System Makes New Investment in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LQDT. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 9.5% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 881,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,092,000 after acquiring an additional 76,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 3.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 202,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,612,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidity Services news, insider Novelette Murray sold 7,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total transaction of $269,574.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,706.76. This trade represents a 17.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.22, for a total value of $1,661,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 103,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,443,585.20. This trade represents a 32.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 170,326 shares of company stock valued at $5,710,365 over the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDT has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $29.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.98. The stock has a market cap of $925.89 million, a PE ratio of 39.77 and a beta of 1.26. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a one year low of $16.79 and a one year high of $39.72.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

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.