Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on LQDA. 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. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of LQDA stock opened at $39.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.20. Liquidia has a one year low of $11.26 and a one year high of $41.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.36 and its 200 day moving average is $26.51.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.86 million. The business’s quarterly 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 Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $1,382,364.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 350,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,134,898.17. This trade represents a 9.52% 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. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 27,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $1,021,427.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 579,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,686,717.42. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 323,354 shares of company stock valued at $11,046,731 in the last three months. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,485,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,026,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth $15,473,000. Diametric Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 72.5% during the second quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 148,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 62,443 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at about $775,000. 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).