Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 14,097 Shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,097 shares during the quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Liquidity Services worth $3,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liquidity Services by 11.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Liquidity Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Institutional investors own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Liquidity Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $30.86 on Friday. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.79 and a 1-year high of $39.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.72. The company has a market capitalization of $957.86 million, a PE ratio of 41.15 and a beta of 1.26.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 6.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.22, for a total transaction of $1,661,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 103,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,443,585.20. This trade represents a 32.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total value of $63,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $549,605.10. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 170,326 shares of company stock worth $5,710,365 over the last three months. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LQDT. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

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.