Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 7% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) were up 7% during trading on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $37.84 and last traded at $36.92. Approximately 585,783 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 2,108,976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.52.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $31.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Liquidia from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jason Adair sold 688 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total value of $28,655.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 211,169 shares in the company, valued at $8,795,188.85. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total transaction of $65,807.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 178,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,449,019.20. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 212,534 shares of company stock worth $7,964,719 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Commercial momentum and profitability — Liquidia reported YUTREPIA net product sales of $90.1M in Q4 and $148.3M for 2025, achieved a second consecutive profitable quarter (Q4 net income $14.6M) and positive adjusted EBITDA, signaling rapid launch adoption and improving unit economics. GlobeNewswire Release
• Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet strength — the company ended 2025 with ~$190.7M in cash, improving liquidity and backing management’s plan to fund commercial expansion and clinical programs from operations. Quiver Quant Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — several firms raised ratings/targets after the quarter (HC Wainwright to $55, Needham to $54, BTIG to $50, Wells Fargo to $44), which supports further upside and likely contributed to intraday buying. Benzinga Analyst Roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed EPS headlines — Liquidia reported GAAP EPS of $0.15 for Q4. That missed some sell‑side consensus figures (~$0.33) but beat other estimates (Zacks cited $0.08), creating mixed investor interpretation of the results. Zacks Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials and management commentary available — the slide deck and transcript provide color on commercial adoption, prescriber metrics and plans to fund L606 and other programs; useful for assessing sustainability of the launch. Earnings Presentation (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Initial market reaction to the EPS headline — shares gapped down on the earnings headline before rebounding, showing sensitivity to EPS versus revenue/profitability nuance. That initial gap indicates headline risk if future quarters miss expectations. DefenseWorld: Gap Down
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional sales — recent filings and summaries show notable insider sell activity and some large institutional reductions, which can weigh on sentiment if sustained. Fool: SEC Filing

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Liquidia by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 2.0% in the third quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 28,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Liquidia by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.10 and its 200-day moving average is $30.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.18). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 237.79% and a negative net margin of 43.53%.The company had revenue of $92.02 million during the quarter. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).