Barrington Research Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Barrington Research in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Barrington Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.87% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on LQDT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LQDT opened at $29.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $913.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.14. Liquidity Services has a 52 week low of $16.79 and a 52 week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In other news, insider Novelette Murray sold 7,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total value 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 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 at this hyperlink. Also, Director Beatriz V. Infante sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $176,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,990 shares in the company, valued at $2,934,526.40. This trade represents a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,658 shares of company stock worth $3,321,948. 28.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in Liquidity Services in the 3rd quarter worth $488,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Liquidity Services in the third quarter valued at about $463,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidity Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $518,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 worth $20,092,000 after buying an additional 76,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Liquidity Services by 3.2% in 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 in the last quarter. 71.15% of the stock is 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.