Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 8% – Should You Buy?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares rose 8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $76.59 and last traded at $76.9410. 667,338 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 1,831,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.23. 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 company has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 546.90 and a beta of 0.55.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,932,209.66. The trade was a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,089,567 shares of company stock valued at $128,662,130. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Liquidia by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Liquidia by 40.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Liquidia by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 94,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).