Needham & Company LLC Cuts Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Price Target to $72.00

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its price target lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $110.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock.

LQDA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $62.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. HC Wainwright set a $36.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.69.

Liquidia Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA opened at $28.64 on Thursday. Liquidia has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $93.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.62 and its 200-day moving average is $62.02.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 149.65%. Liquidia’s quarterly revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.49) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Liquidia will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,130,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,836,763.26. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Liquidia by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP boosted its position in Liquidia by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,565,000 after acquiring an additional 167,949 shares during the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its position in Liquidia by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,657,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,694,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,727 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Liquidia News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s legal options are not exhausted: an appeal could potentially overturn or narrow the ruling, giving investors a possible path to recovery if Yutrepia’s market opportunity is preserved. Liquidia Stock Crashed 57% in a Day After a Delaware Court Ruling
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the litigation setback, Jefferies upgraded LQDA to “strong buy,” while HC Wainwright maintained a “buy” rating and set a $58 price target. These calls indicate that some analysts believe the selloff has overstated the long-term damage or that an appeal could succeed.
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its target from $130 to $58, and Needham reduced its target from $110 to $72, although both retained “buy” ratings. The sharply lower targets reflect materially higher legal and commercialization risk even among bullish analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG downgraded Liquidia to “neutral,” and Wells Fargo added to the analyst downgrades following the patent ruling. Analysts cited uncertainty over Yutrepia’s PH-ILD indication and the possibility that UTHR’s patent victory could limit Liquidia’s addressable market. Liquidia extends losses as Wells Fargo adds to downgrades
• Negative Sentiment: The court setback triggered a severe selloff, leaving LQDA on track for its worst week on record as investors reassessed Yutrepia’s revenue potential and Liquidia’s competitive position. The stock’s unusually heavy trading volume underscores the market’s heightened uncertainty. LQDA Stock On Track For Worst Week Ever

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).