Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 6% – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) was up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.87 and last traded at $69.6840. Approximately 402,522 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,716,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on LQDA shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Liquidia from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Liquidia from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Stock Up 5.1%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 50.49 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.88 and its 200-day moving average is $59.93.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 149.65%. The business had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.49) EPS. Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 722,519 shares of company stock valued at $55,652,514. 25.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Liquidia by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,694,000. Eversept Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,565,000 after acquiring an additional 167,949 shares during the period. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,727 shares during the period. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE increased its stake in Liquidia by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.