Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Position in LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) by 174.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,799 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,338 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of LivePerson worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LPSN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LivePerson by 36.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of LivePerson during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LivePerson by 58.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of LivePerson by 7.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 12,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of LivePerson by 16.9% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 58,160 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 8,421 shares during the last quarter. 73.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Deneen Collins sold 21,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.78, for a total value of $101,694.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 172,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,492.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other LivePerson news, CFO John Deneen Collins sold 21,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.78, for a total transaction of $101,694.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 172,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,492.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica L. Greenberg sold 7,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.78, for a total transaction of $37,197.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,157.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,414 shares of company stock valued at $154,939. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital raised shares of LivePerson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Roth Mkm raised shares of LivePerson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Craig Hallum raised shares of LivePerson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $5.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of LivePerson in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of LivePerson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.78.

LivePerson Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LPSN opened at $4.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.39 and a beta of 1.56. LivePerson, Inc. has a one year low of $3.18 and a one year high of $18.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.27.

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.38. The company had revenue of $97.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. LivePerson had a negative net margin of 20.03% and a negative return on equity of 83.26%. Sell-side analysts forecast that LivePerson, Inc. will post 0.03 EPS for the current year.

About LivePerson

LivePerson, Inc engages in conversational artificial intelligence. It operates in two segments, Business and Consumer. The Business segment 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.