Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Upgraded at BTIG Research

BTIG Research upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $70.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $108.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Wedbush set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.85.

Liquidia Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of LQDA stock opened at $34.35 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.54. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $21.94 and a 1-year high of $93.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $168.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.49) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 36,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $2,758,807.11. Following the sale, the director directly owned 44,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,347,328.63. The trade was a 45.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 235,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.13, for a total value of $6,388,491.01. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 745,194 shares of company stock worth $41,081,702 over the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at about $335,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Liquidia by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $177,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $758,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $1,236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s settlement with United Therapeutics resolves the litigation surrounding YUTREPIA, removing a major legal overhang and improving visibility for the product’s commercialization. The stock recently rallied sharply on the news, though the agreement is described as costly. Why Liquidia Is Up After YUTREPIA Litigation Settlement
• Positive Sentiment: LifeSci Capital upgraded Liquidia to “Outperform” from “Market Perform,” reflecting increased confidence following the litigation resolution. LifeSci Capital Upgrades Liquidia
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research raised Liquidia to “Buy,” adding to the bullish analyst commentary. HC Wainwright also maintained a “Buy” rating and lifted its price target to $65 from $58, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading volume became unusually high after the analyst upgrades, indicating strong investor attention and repositioning following the settlement and rating changes. Liquidia Sees Unusually High Trading Volume
• Negative Sentiment: Needham & Company reduced its price target for Liquidia, signaling that some analysts believe the stock’s valuation or the financial impact of the settlement warrants a more cautious outlook. Liquidia Price Target Cut by Needham

Liquidia Company Profile

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).