Analysts Set Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Target Price at $86.18

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.1818.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LQDA shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price target on Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 716,311 shares in the company, valued at $45,779,436.01. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 242,269 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.43, for a total transaction of $17,063,005.67. Following the sale, the director owned 1,176,184 shares in the company, valued at $82,838,639.12. This represents a 17.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,781,861 shares of company stock worth $124,407,112 over the last three months. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after purchasing an additional 24,555 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Liquidia by 63.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 58,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 22,592 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at about $709,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Liquidia by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after buying an additional 26,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Liquidia by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,013,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,439,000 after buying an additional 52,671 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidia Trading Down 3.3%

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $88.05 on Friday. Liquidia has a one year low of $21.15 and a one year high of $93.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 628.97 and a beta of 0.58.

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