Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $73.12 and last traded at $69.5090, with a volume of 19264 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Liquidia Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 503.46 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.85 and a 200-day moving average of $40.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,932,209.66. This represents a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,061,903 shares of company stock valued at $112,583,756. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).