LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,710,000 shares, an increase of 33.2% from the March 15th total of 8,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 14.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

LivePerson Price Performance

LPSN stock opened at $0.75 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.46 million, a P/E ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.67. LivePerson has a 52-week low of $0.45 and a 52-week high of $2.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.24, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($1.23). LivePerson had a negative return on equity of 111.48% and a negative net margin of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $73.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.06) EPS. Research analysts expect that LivePerson will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LPSN. StockNews.com cut shares of LivePerson from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of LivePerson in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $0.88.

Insider Activity at LivePerson

In other news, Director Vanessa Pegueros sold 30,000 shares of LivePerson stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $27,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 139,993 shares in the company, valued at $125,993.70. The trade was a 17.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony John Sabino sold 111,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.98, for a total transaction of $108,799.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,243,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,942.62. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 310,204 shares of company stock worth $287,471 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LivePerson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in LivePerson by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 402,345 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 15,032 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in LivePerson during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in LivePerson in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in LivePerson by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,920 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 18,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dodds Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of LivePerson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LivePerson Company Profile

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.