Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Up 10.2% – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares rose 10.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $71.82 and last traded at $71.9150. Approximately 2,015,297 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 1,723,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.29.

Liquidia Stock Down 0.6%

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 firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 508.82 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.89.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total transaction of $270,611.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 67,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,394,460.72. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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, Director Arthur S. Kirsch sold 10,000 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $548,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,061,903 shares of company stock worth $112,583,756. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during 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 during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Liquidia by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).