Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $36.96 and last traded at $36.95, with a volume of 7625 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Liquidity Services from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.78 and a beta of 1.37.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter. Liquidity Services had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 5.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at Liquidity Services

In other news, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total value of $63,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $549,605.10. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 16,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $564,014.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,146,032.80. This trade represents a 32.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,668 shares of company stock valued at $3,331,558 in the last quarter. 29.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidity Services

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDT. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services in the third quarter worth about $488,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Liquidity Services by 307.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying 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 valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 30,360 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Liquidity Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,311,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

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.