Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 7.2% – Here’s What Happened

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price was up 7.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $80.69 and last traded at $86.7060. 223,803 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,797,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on LQDA shares. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

Liquidia Trading Up 2.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 635.97 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.82.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 1,185 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $84,739.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 65,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,715,869.97. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $562,354.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 117,178 shares in the company, valued at $8,379,398.78. This represents a 6.29% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,022,134 shares of company stock valued at $129,579,224. 25.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 281.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during 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).