Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 3.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s share price was up 3.3% on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $34.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $15.45 and last traded at $15.42. Approximately 549,711 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 928,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

LQDA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Liquidia from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 6,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $73,613.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 270,388 shares in the company, valued at $3,185,170.64. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $275,298.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 401,755 shares in the company, valued at $4,732,673.90. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,245 shares of company stock worth $843,326 over the last quarter. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Liquidia by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Walleye Trading LLC increased its holdings in Liquidia by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Trading LLC now owns 13,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at about $142,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth about $154,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.12.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).