Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Raymond James Financial downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $30.26, but opened at $23.96. Raymond James Financial now has a $53.00 price target on the stock. Liquidia shares last traded at $25.7670, with a volume of 7,137,497 shares.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Lifesci Capital downgraded Liquidia from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $110.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In related news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,130,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,836,763.26. This trade represents a 3.02% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company retained a Buy rating and set a $72 price target, down from $110 but still implying substantial potential upside from recent levels. Benzinga analyst price target report
• Positive Sentiment: YUTREPIA adoption is generating revenue, profits and cash flow, providing Liquidia with an operating base for additional growth. Second-quarter revenue was reported at approximately $171.7 million, up more than 1,800% year over year. Liquidia growth potential analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Liquidia said it plans to appeal the ruling and intends to seek an FDA label change removing the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA. The eventual commercial impact will depend on the appeal and the court’s remedy.
• Negative Sentiment: The Delaware District Court found two of six asserted claims in United Therapeutics’ ’327 patent valid and infringed by Liquidia. The parties must propose remedies within one week, potentially including removal of the PH-ILD indication or broader restrictions on YUTREPIA sales. Liquidia Hatch-Waxman litigation update
• Negative Sentiment: The decision significantly weakens YUTREPIA’s commercial outlook and raises the possibility of an injunction sought by United Therapeutics. Trading was repeatedly halted as investors reacted to the litigation news. Reuters report on Liquidia patent ruling

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $29,694,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after acquiring an additional 360,372 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,337,000. T3 Companies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,084,000. Finally, Eversept Partners LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,565,000 after purchasing an additional 167,949 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Liquidia Trading Down 14.6%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.49) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).