Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 14.9% – What’s Next?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares rose 14.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.20 and last traded at $64.00. Approximately 779,911 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 1,666,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.88.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 458.52 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.16.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The firm’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Raman Singh sold 29,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $1,773,474.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,330,338.15. The trade was a 43.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,163,911 shares of company stock valued at $53,115,021. 25.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).