Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Lowered 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 report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Liquidia in a report on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.56.

Liquidia Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA opened at $34.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.90 and a beta of 0.48. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $10.37 and a 12 month high of $34.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.89.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.41. The company had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. Liquidia’s revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, insider Scott Moomaw sold 831 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.19, for a total value of $26,749.89. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 154,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,973,548.14. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 1,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.19, for a total value of $34,507.68. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 577,288 shares in the company, valued at $18,582,900.72. The trade was a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 215,168 shares of company stock worth $5,675,425. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,783,000 after acquiring an additional 4,326,876 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Liquidia by 10.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,078,000 after purchasing an additional 367,659 shares during the period. Opaleye Management Inc. increased its holdings in Liquidia by 9.5% in the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,838,000 after purchasing an additional 215,000 shares in the last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,887,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

About Liquidia

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).