Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Liquidia from $62.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Stock Down 1.6%

LQDA opened at $66.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.72 and a beta of 0.53. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $21.15 and a 12 month high of $93.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.26.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.49) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Liquidia will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total transaction of $3,703,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the transaction, the insider owned 174,606 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 790,089 shares of company stock worth $60,549,874 over the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Liquidia by 281.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth $175,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.