Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $109.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $76.66 and last traded at $74.64, with a volume of 227170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.07.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liquidia news, insider Sarah Krepp sold 24,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.28, for a total value of $1,748,566.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,564,531.64. This represents a 16.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total transaction of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 716,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,264,580 shares of company stock worth $127,670,941 in the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 124.5% during the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,732,000 after purchasing an additional 113,609 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the first quarter worth about $2,111,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Liquidia by 18.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Liquidia by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,734,000 after buying an additional 14,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,650,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Stock Up 3.6%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.31. 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 company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 523.75 and a beta of 0.57.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The business had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current 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).