Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.8750.

Several research firms have issued reports on LQDA. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA opened at $76.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 546.40 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.52. Liquidia has a 52-week low of $14.04 and a 52-week high of $82.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 20,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $1,460,949.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 345,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,728,515.55. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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, insider Jason Adair sold 7,863 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $562,283.13. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 217,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,526,680.26. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,040,973 shares of company stock worth $130,344,087. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,993,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at $399,000. Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at $287,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter worth $1,395,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 124.5% in the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 113,609 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary notes that Liquidia’s Yutrepia has had a strong commercial debut, suggesting early traction in its pulmonary arterial hypertension market opportunity. Can LQDA’s Yutrepia Drive Growth in the Competitive PAH Market?
• Neutral Sentiment: An investor letter from Laughing Water Capital mentioned Liquidia in a broader portfolio update, but did not provide a clear company-specific catalyst. Here’s Laughing Water Capital’s Updates on Liquidia Corp. (LQDA)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders, including the CEO, CFO, general counsel, and other executives, sold shares on July 13 in pre-arranged 10b5-1 transactions tied to tax withholding from vesting equity awards. While these sales were planned and not necessarily a bearish signal, the size and breadth of the sales may still pressure investor sentiment. SEC filing – Roger Jeffs sale

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).