Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $66.78 and last traded at $65.1280, with a volume of 356681 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $61.85.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 on June 22. Index inclusion often brings passive fund buying and can improve liquidity, which is a strong positive for the stock. Liquidia Corporation Announces Inclusion in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted Liquidia’s recent strength and suggested the shares still look undervalued relative to growth prospects, reinforcing investor optimism. Liquidia Corp (LQDA) Stock Up 3.4% and Still Undervalued — GF Score: 75/100
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no shares reported as short, so this update does not currently appear to add meaningful trading pressure either way.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Stephen Bloch sold 2,064 shares, adding to recent insider sales, including larger disposals by Bloch and Paul B. Manning. While the sales are small relative to their holdings, insider selling can weigh on sentiment because it may be viewed as profit-taking. Stephen Bloch Sells 2,064 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LQDA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.63.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.11. 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 capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 457.25 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 6,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.18, for a total value of $399,693.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,041,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,770,854.06. This trade represents a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arthur S. Kirsch sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total transaction of $548,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,448,711 shares of company stock worth $71,404,763. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Liquidia by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).