Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $30.63, but opened at $29.96. Liquidity Services shares last traded at $30.19, with a volume of 30,131 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $957.86 million, a P/E ratio of 41.15 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.72.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 20.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidity Services

In other news, SVP Steven Weiskircher sold 10,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.99, for a total value of $367,601.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,049.99. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Shaffer sold 6,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.59, for a total transaction of $213,717.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 36,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,193.97. The trade was a 14.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 170,326 shares of company stock worth $5,710,365 over the last quarter. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 651.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 798,688 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,790,000 after purchasing an additional 692,390 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 826.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 196,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,341,000 after purchasing an additional 175,161 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 457,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,768,000 after purchasing an additional 167,767 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 561.2% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 141,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,574,000 after purchasing an additional 120,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth about $3,477,000. 71.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Liquidity Services Company Profile

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.