Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.85 and last traded at $44.21, with a volume of 1438020 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, October 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Trading Up 4.3%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.30. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. The firm’s quarterly 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 Activity at Liquidia

In related news, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 27,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $1,021,427.27. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 579,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,686,717.42. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,134,898.17. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 323,857 shares of company stock worth $11,100,722. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,290,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth $1,485,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $2,026,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $15,473,000. Finally, Diametric Capital LP boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 72.5% during the second quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 148,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 62,443 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).