Royce & Associates LP Buys 120,226 Shares of Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) by 561.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120,226 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.46% of Liquidity Services worth $4,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LQDT. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Liquidity Services in the fourth quarter worth about $2,743,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Liquidity Services by 9.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 881,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,092,000 after purchasing an additional 76,794 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Liquidity Services by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 119,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,856,000 after purchasing an additional 61,918 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Liquidity Services by 102.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 30,360 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Liquidity Services by 307.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 29,746 shares during the period. 71.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Steven Weiskircher sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.99, for a total value of $367,601.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,049.99. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Novelette Murray sold 7,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total transaction of $269,574.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,181 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,706.76. This represents a 17.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,658 shares of company stock worth $3,321,948 over the last 90 days. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Liquidity Services Stock Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $30.60 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.15. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.79 and a 52 week high of $39.72. The stock has a market cap of $949.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 20.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price objective 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.

About Liquidity Services

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.