Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 14.9% – What’s Next?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price shot up 14.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.20 and last traded at $64.00. 779,911 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,666,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LQDA. BTIG Research raised their target price on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.88.

Liquidia Trading Up 15.0%

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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 458.52 and a beta of 0.58.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $132.87 million for 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 company’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 139,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $5,595,114.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 353,356 shares in the company, valued at $14,183,709.84. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Raman Singh sold 29,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $1,773,474.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,330,338.15. The trade was a 43.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,163,911 shares of company stock valued at $53,115,021 over the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Liquidia by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Liquidia by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Liquidia by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).