Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $79.91 and last traded at $79.7050, with a volume of 554017 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.08 and a 200 day moving average of $44.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 560.55 and a beta of 0.55.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total transaction of $12,782,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,870,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,302,030 shares of company stock worth $132,996,894 in the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,732,000 after buying an additional 113,609 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the first quarter worth approximately $2,111,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Liquidia by 25.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after buying an additional 14,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the first quarter worth about $3,650,000. Institutional investors 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).