Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Liquidia were worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LQDA. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Liquidia by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 428,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,040,000 after acquiring an additional 38,313 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Liquidia by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 188,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $275,298.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 401,755 shares in the company, valued at $4,732,673.90. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 6,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $73,613.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 270,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,185,170.64. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,245 shares of company stock worth $843,326. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LQDA shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Liquidia in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $26.63.

Liquidia Price Performance

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $15.09 on Friday. Liquidia Co. has a 12 month low of $8.26 and a 12 month high of $16.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.26 and a beta of 0.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.42.

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