Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading 10.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares shot up 10.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $71.82 and last traded at $71.9150. 2,015,297 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average session volume of 1,723,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LQDA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.29.

Liquidia Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 517.18 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.37.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The business’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total transaction of $270,611.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,132 shares in the company, valued at $4,394,460.72. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. Also, Director Arthur S. Kirsch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $548,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,673,680 shares of company stock valued at $85,949,087. 25.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).