Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at BTIG Research in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $49.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 38.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.56.

Liquidia Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of LQDA traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.48. 163,492 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,798. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.64 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.63. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $11.26 and a 12-month high of $36.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 71,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $1,927,287.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 176,549 shares in the company, valued at $4,766,823. This represents a 28.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 1,166 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.19, for a total transaction of $37,533.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 353,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,389,562.37. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 169,644 shares of company stock worth $4,500,450. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 28,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 1.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 67,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Liquidia by 10.2% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Liquidia during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 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).