Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 209.33% and a negative net margin of 43.53%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of LQDA opened at $36.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.77 and its 200-day moving average is $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of -44.13 and a beta of 0.52. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $11.26 and a fifty-two week high of $46.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $31.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.67.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $2,493,212.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,037,528 shares in the company, valued at $38,834,673.04. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $1,382,364.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 350,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,134,898.17. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 212,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,964,719 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Liquidia by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,656,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,547,000 after purchasing an additional 90,400 shares in the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 9.5% in the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,838,000 after buying an additional 215,000 shares during the period. TCG Crossover Management LLC bought a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,887,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,620,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,911,000 after buying an additional 13,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MPM Bioimpact LLC boosted its position in Liquidia by 600.4% during the 4th quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,316,000 after buying an additional 1,200,869 shares during the period. 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).