Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Short Interest Update

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA) saw a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,590,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the May 15th total of 13,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.8 days. Currently, 28.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia Technologies

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total transaction of $33,491.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 263,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,597,287.84. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 5,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total value of $80,931.48. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 570,301 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,984.57. This trade represents a 1.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,138 shares of company stock valued at $450,233 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 17,790 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $526,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 428,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,040,000 after purchasing an additional 38,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $13.64 on Friday. Liquidia Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $8.26 and a fifty-two week high of $19.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 0.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.26 and a 200-day moving average of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 million. Liquidia Technologies had a negative return on equity of 177.91% and a negative net margin of 903.80%. As a group, analysts predict that Liquidia Technologies will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 target price on Liquidia Technologies and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Liquidia Technologies from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Liquidia Technologies from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Liquidia Technologies from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.89.

About Liquidia Technologies

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).