Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Raymond James Financial downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $30.26, but opened at $23.96. Raymond James Financial now has a $53.00 price target on the stock. Liquidia shares last traded at $25.7670, with a volume of 7,137,497 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Liquidia from $110.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 20th. BTIG Research downgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Lifesci Capital lowered Liquidia from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,528.54. The trade was a 29.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.53, for a total value of $140,048.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 167,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,697,950.07. This trade represents a 0.94% 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 three months, insiders sold 597,519 shares of company stock valued at $46,091,764. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

More Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company retained a Buy rating and set a $72 price target, down from $110 but still implying substantial potential upside from recent levels. Benzinga analyst price target report
• Positive Sentiment: YUTREPIA adoption is generating revenue, profits and cash flow, providing Liquidia with an operating base for additional growth. Second-quarter revenue was reported at approximately $171.7 million, up more than 1,800% year over year. Liquidia growth potential analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Liquidia said it plans to appeal the ruling and intends to seek an FDA label change removing the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA. The eventual commercial impact will depend on the appeal and the court’s remedy.
• Negative Sentiment: The Delaware District Court found two of six asserted claims in United Therapeutics’ ’327 patent valid and infringed by Liquidia. The parties must propose remedies within one week, potentially including removal of the PH-ILD indication or broader restrictions on YUTREPIA sales. Liquidia Hatch-Waxman litigation update
• Negative Sentiment: The decision significantly weakens YUTREPIA’s commercial outlook and raises the possibility of an injunction sought by United Therapeutics. Trading was repeatedly halted as investors reacted to the litigation news. Reuters report on Liquidia patent ruling

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Liquidia by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,694,000. Eversept Partners LP increased its position in Liquidia by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,565,000 after acquiring an additional 167,949 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% in the first 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. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $171.68 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.49) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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).