Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Dropped to Equal Weight by Wells Fargo & Company

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.75% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LQDA. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

Liquidia Stock Performance

LQDA stock opened at $28.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The firm’s revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.49) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 18,393 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $1,328,526.39. Following the sale, the director owned 44,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,224,130.51. This trade represents a 29.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.53, for a total value of $140,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 167,919 shares in the company, valued at $14,697,950.07. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 572,519 shares of company stock worth $44,087,514 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

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

More Liquidia News

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).