Magnetar Financial LLC Takes Position in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Liquidity Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LQDT. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 561.2% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 141,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,574,000 after buying an additional 120,226 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Liquidity Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,743,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Liquidity Services by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 881,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,092,000 after purchasing an additional 76,794 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Liquidity Services by 107.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 119,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,856,000 after purchasing an additional 61,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Liquidity Services by 102.7% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.15% of the company’s stock.

Liquidity Services Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $31.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.29. Liquidity Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.79 and a 52 week high of $39.72. The company has a market cap of $980.83 million, a PE ratio of 42.13 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LQDT shares. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Liquidity Services from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Liquidity Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Liquidity Services in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Beatriz V. Infante sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 82,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,526.40. This trade represents a 5.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward Kolodzieski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $65,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,034.10. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,658 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,408. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.