The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 8,314 Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LQDT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 purchasing an additional 30,360 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $226,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 35,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Liquidity Services

In related news, Director Beatriz V. Infante sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 29,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.06, for a total value of $847,651.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 230,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,695,220.58. This represents a 11.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,038 shares of company stock worth $3,669,775 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on LQDT shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

Shares of Liquidity Services stock opened at $24.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $765.23 million, a P/E ratio of 32.68 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.59. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.78 and a 1-year high of $39.72.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The business had revenue of $116.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.20 million. Liquidity Services had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

Liquidity Services 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.