Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) 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 traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Liquidity Services Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $960.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.24 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.17 and its 200-day moving average is $27.60.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In related news, Director Beatriz V. Infante sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $176,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,934,526.40. The trade was a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total transaction of $813,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,675.41. This trade represents a 57.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 170,326 shares of company stock valued at $5,710,365 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidity Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 257.6% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth about $132,000. 71.15% of the stock is 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.