Values First Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Values First Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,653 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Liquidity Services were worth $1,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LQDT. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Liquidity Services by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel grew its stake in Liquidity Services by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 52,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 35,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. 71.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidity Services Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of LQDT stock opened at $34.34 on Wednesday. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.51 and a twelve month high of $39.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.65 and a 200 day moving average of $26.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.79 and a beta of 1.36.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidity Services news, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.22, for a total transaction of $1,661,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 103,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,443,585.20. This represents a 32.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 16,540 shares of Liquidity Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $564,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,146,032.80. This trade represents a 32.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,668 shares of company stock worth $3,331,558. Company insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday.

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.