LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Short Interest Up 20.3% in April

LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,120,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the March 31st total of 6,750,000 shares. Approximately 11.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LPSN shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of LivePerson from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of LivePerson from $3.75 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of LivePerson from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of LivePerson in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded shares of LivePerson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.58.

LivePerson Stock Down 7.7 %

LivePerson stock opened at $0.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.63, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. LivePerson has a 52-week low of $0.45 and a 52-week high of $6.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.34. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.39 and a beta of 1.50.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 47.71% and a negative net margin of 24.99%. The firm had revenue of $95.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.54 million. Equities analysts predict that LivePerson will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at LivePerson

In other LivePerson news, Director William Wesemann bought 100,000 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director William Wesemann purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 374,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,835. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alex Kroman sold 65,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.51, for a total value of $33,572.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,223.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,662 shares of company stock worth $40,411 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of LivePerson by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,258 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $923,000 after acquiring an additional 5,151 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of LivePerson by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,124 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in shares of LivePerson by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 215,540 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 5,455 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in LivePerson by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in LivePerson by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

About LivePerson

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.