Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $79.91 and last traded at $79.7050, with a volume of 554017 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Liquidia Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 570.03 and a beta of 0.57.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liquidia news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,870,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,302,030 shares of company stock worth $132,996,894 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 281.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. 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).