Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.4444.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Liquidia from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Liquidia from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, March 5th.

Liquidia Stock Performance

LQDA stock opened at $37.68 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $11.26 and a fifty-two week high of $46.67.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.49 million. The business’s revenue was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $2,493,212.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,037,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,834,673.04. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $1,382,364.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,134,898.17. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 293,398 shares of company stock valued at $10,886,538. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 10.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after buying an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 16,022 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Liquidia

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).