Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 84,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,743,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in Liquidity Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Liquidity Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 205,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 82,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Liquidity Services by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in Liquidity Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $856,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Liquidity Services Trading Up 0.3 %

LQDT stock opened at $29.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.08. The company has a market capitalization of $929.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91 and a beta of 1.26. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.79 and a 52 week high of $39.72.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LQDT. Craig Hallum lifted 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. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In related news, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.33, for a total transaction of $264,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,625.75. This represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 26,000 shares of Liquidity Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total transaction of $813,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,675.41. This trade represents a 57.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,658 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,948 over the last 90 days. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.