Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $43.42 and last traded at $42.47, with a volume of 1423668 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LQDA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Liquidia Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of -29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.49.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.41. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. The company had revenue of $54.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 71,381 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $1,927,287.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 176,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,766,823. This trade represents a 28.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $1,382,364.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,134,898.17. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 321,589 shares of company stock valued at $11,006,259. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 15.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 10.2% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 26.9% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company’s lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).