Brokerages Set Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Price Target at $39.67

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.6667.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LQDA. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Liquidia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $40.59 on Wednesday. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $11.26 and a 52 week high of $42.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.48.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $54.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 296.78% and a negative net margin of 176.04%.Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other news, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 27,289 shares of the business’s 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 $1,021,427.27. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 579,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,686,717.42. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,037,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,834,673.04. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 323,354 shares of company stock valued at $11,046,731 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 102.1% in the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,783,000 after acquiring an additional 4,326,876 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Liquidia by 10.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,078,000 after purchasing an additional 367,659 shares during the period. Opaleye Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter worth about $38,887,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter worth about $37,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).