Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 3.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price was up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $34.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $15.45 and last traded at $15.42. Approximately 549,711 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 928,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

LQDA has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Liquidia from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $26.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total value of $275,298.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 401,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,732,673.90. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 6,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total value of $73,613.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 270,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,185,170.64. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,245 shares of company stock valued at $843,326. 30.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Liquidia by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 7,725 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Alpine Global Management LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 105,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 22,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitefort Capital Management LP grew its position in Liquidia by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,987,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,370,000 after buying an additional 285,220 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Stock Down 2.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.28 and a beta of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.18.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.08). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 million. Equities analysts predict that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).