Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LQDA. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Liquidia from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. BTIG Research raised their price target on Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.44.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $42.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $11.85 and a 52 week high of $46.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.79 and its 200 day moving average is $34.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 0.41.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.49 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Liquidia will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,576 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.78, for a total value of $59,541.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 175,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,420.76. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 139,390 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $5,595,114.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 353,356 shares in the company, valued at $14,183,709.84. The trade was a 28.29% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 578,820 shares of company stock worth $22,746,258. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,656,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,547,000 after purchasing an additional 90,400 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,013,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,439,000 after purchasing an additional 52,671 shares in the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 9.5% during the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,838,000 after purchasing an additional 215,000 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,783,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,527,000 after purchasing an additional 151,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCG Crossover Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,887,000. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

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).