Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $44.85 and last traded at $44.21, with a volume of 1438020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LQDA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Trading Down 4.7%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of -30.85, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.46.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.41. The business had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 296.78% and a negative net margin of 176.04%.The firm’s revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 21,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $791,345.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 176,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,730.69. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 35,656 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $1,070,749.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 174,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,255,189.94. This trade represents a 16.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 252,476 shares of company stock worth $9,173,435 over the last 90 days. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 281.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

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).