Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) to Hold

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

LQDA has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research cut shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $130.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA opened at $28.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.02. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The business had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,528.54. This represents a 29.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764 in the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 58,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 22,592 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,694,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,993,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after purchasing an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s legal options are not exhausted: an appeal could potentially overturn or narrow the ruling, giving investors a possible path to recovery if Yutrepia’s market opportunity is preserved. Liquidia Stock Crashed 57% in a Day After a Delaware Court Ruling
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the litigation setback, Jefferies upgraded LQDA to “strong buy,” while HC Wainwright maintained a “buy” rating and set a $58 price target. These calls indicate that some analysts believe the selloff has overstated the long-term damage or that an appeal could succeed.
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its target from $130 to $58, and Needham reduced its target from $110 to $72, although both retained “buy” ratings. The sharply lower targets reflect materially higher legal and commercialization risk even among bullish analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG downgraded Liquidia to “neutral,” and Wells Fargo added to the analyst downgrades following the patent ruling. Analysts cited uncertainty over Yutrepia’s PH-ILD indication and the possibility that UTHR’s patent victory could limit Liquidia’s addressable market. Liquidia extends losses as Wells Fargo adds to downgrades
• Negative Sentiment: The court setback triggered a severe selloff, leaving LQDA on track for its worst week on record as investors reassessed Yutrepia’s revenue potential and Liquidia’s competitive position. The stock’s unusually heavy trading volume underscores the market’s heightened uncertainty. LQDA Stock On Track For Worst Week Ever

About Liquidia

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).