Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Up 3.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) traded up 3.1% during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $14.71 and last traded at $14.57. 617,093 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 1,189,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.13.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Liquidia from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Liquidia and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Liquidia from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidia news, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $25,185.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 184,304 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,005.28. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $33,491.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 263,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,597,287.84. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,138 shares of company stock valued at $450,233. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Liquidia by 6.0% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 85,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares in the last quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $250,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Liquidia by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after acquiring an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% in the 1st 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. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.87 and a beta of 0.04.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 million. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. On average, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).