Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Upgraded at Lifesci Capital

Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a hold rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $59.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LQDA. Wedbush set a $58.00 price target on Liquidia in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.85.

Liquidia Stock Down 1.2%

LQDA opened at $34.35 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.54. 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 company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $21.94 and a 52 week high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 149.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.49) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 9,218 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $262,528.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 126,368 shares in the company, valued at $3,598,960.64. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Sarah Krepp sold 5,245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $149,377.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 115,241 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,063.68. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 745,194 shares of company stock valued at $41,081,702. 25.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth $175,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $177,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the first quarter valued at about $247,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the first quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $287,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s settlement with United Therapeutics resolves the litigation surrounding YUTREPIA, removing a major legal overhang and improving visibility for the product’s commercialization. The stock recently rallied sharply on the news, though the agreement is described as costly. Why Liquidia Is Up After YUTREPIA Litigation Settlement
• Positive Sentiment: LifeSci Capital upgraded Liquidia to “Outperform” from “Market Perform,” reflecting increased confidence following the litigation resolution. LifeSci Capital Upgrades Liquidia
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research raised Liquidia to “Buy,” adding to the bullish analyst commentary. HC Wainwright also maintained a “Buy” rating and lifted its price target to $65 from $58, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading volume became unusually high after the analyst upgrades, indicating strong investor attention and repositioning following the settlement and rating changes. Liquidia Sees Unusually High Trading Volume
• Negative Sentiment: Needham & Company reduced its price target for Liquidia, signaling that some analysts believe the stock’s valuation or the financial impact of the settlement warrants a more cautious outlook. Liquidia Price Target Cut by Needham

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).