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

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LQDA shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, insider Jason Adair sold 13,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $507,101.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,893,632.82. This trade represents a 6.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,037,528 shares in the company, valued at $38,834,673.04. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 323,354 shares of company stock worth $11,046,731. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter worth $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter worth $34,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Liquidia by 24.0% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Liquidia by 281.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Stock Performance

LQDA opened at $39.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.36 and its 200 day moving average is $26.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.48. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $11.26 and a 12-month high of $41.57.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.41. The business had revenue of $54.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Liquidia Company Profile

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).