Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) Short Interest Update

Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, an increase of 17.4% from the January 15th total of 877,700 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 302,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LQDT shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidity Services news, insider Novelette Murray sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $348,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,119 shares in the company, valued at $1,538,870.72. This represents a 18.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.33, for a total transaction of $264,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $963,625.75. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 157,388 shares of company stock worth $5,263,991 in the last ninety days. 28.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services in the 3rd quarter worth $488,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 307.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 29,746 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 102.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 30,360 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services in the 3rd quarter worth $1,311,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services in the 3rd quarter worth $518,000. 71.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidity Services Stock Performance

Liquidity Services stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.48. 332,765 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 281,738. Liquidity Services has a 12-month low of $16.58 and a 12-month high of $39.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.64 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.51.

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

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.