Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.0833.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price target on Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $62.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In related news, Director Stephen Bloch sold 111,049 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.46, for a total value of $7,935,561.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,065,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,114,547.10. This represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 36,789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total value of $2,758,807.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,347,328.63. The trade was a 45.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 901,138 shares of company stock valued at $68,485,435 in the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in 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 during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $175,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $177,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidia Stock Up 2.1%

LQDA stock opened at $69.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.45 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $21.15 and a 12 month high of $93.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.97.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The company had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).