Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks reports.

LQDA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Liquidia from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush set a $58.00 price target on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $65.00 price target on Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Liquidia from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.23.

Liquidia Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of LQDA traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,932,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,107,374. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.75. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $22.31 and a fifty-two week high of $93.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported ($2.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($3.60). The company had revenue of $225.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.18 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 15.15% and a positive return on equity of 264.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 314.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 9,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $262,528.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 126,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,598,960.64. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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. Also, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total value of $68,283.39. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 164,028 shares in the company, valued at $7,084,369.32. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 566,579 shares of company stock valued at $25,746,120. 25.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Liquidia by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after acquiring an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,694,000. Eversept Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,565,000 after purchasing an additional 167,949 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% during the second quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for pulmonary hypertension and other serious diseases. Its work includes inhaled therapies designed to deliver medicines to the lungs. The company’s marketed product, Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, is approved in the United States for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease. Liquidia also has a pipeline of investigational therapies, including other formulations of treprostinil.