Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $31.53, but opened at $25.63. Liquidity Services shares last traded at $27.00, with a volume of 638,667 shares.

Specifically, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 10,000 shares of Liquidity Services stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.55, for a total value of $315,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 184,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,822,931.10. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $882.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.33.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The business had revenue of $116.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.20 million. Liquidity Services had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidity Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 102.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 30,360 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $899,000 after buying an additional 29,746 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 119,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,856,000 after purchasing an additional 61,918 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Liquidity Services by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 23,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 4,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new stake in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. 71.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Liquidity Services

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.