Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 38.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.44.

Liquidia Stock Up 1.0%

Liquidia stock opened at $36.76 on Monday. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $11.26 and a 1-year high of $46.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.45 and a beta of 0.53.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.49 million. The firm’s revenue was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total value of $65,807.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 178,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,449,019.20. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 688 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total value of $28,655.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,795,188.85. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 212,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,964,719 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 30.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP bought a new position in Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth $3,148,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 428.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 420,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,507,000 after acquiring an additional 341,009 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth about $1,214,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,107,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).