Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $77.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $53.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LQDA. Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Liquidia from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Liquidia from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.38.

Liquidia Trading Up 7.4%

Shares of LQDA opened at $55.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.60. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $22.31 and a 1-year high of $93.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.40.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported ($2.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($3.60). Liquidia had a negative net margin of 15.15% and a positive return on equity of 184.00%. The company had revenue of $225.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.18 million. Liquidia’s quarterly revenue was up 314.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,581 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total value of $68,283.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 164,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,084,369.32. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 13,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $389,948.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 602,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,168,911.68. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 566,579 shares of company stock valued at $25,746,120 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Liquidia by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after purchasing an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,694,000. Eversept Partners LP boosted its stake in Liquidia by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,565,000 after buying an additional 167,949 shares during the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,459,000 after buying an additional 51,727 shares during the period. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE grew its holdings in Liquidia by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,657,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia News Summary

Investors following LQDA have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue reached $225.3 million, up 314.9% year over year and ahead of expectations, with YUTREPIA sales of $222.7 million. The earnings coverage highlights strong product demand; a large charge obscured the reported loss, while adjusted results beat estimates. LQDA Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Robust Yutrepia Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded LQDA to “strong buy” and raised its price target to $77 from $53. Needham raised its target to $66 and maintained “buy,” while BTIG raised its target to $87 and also maintained “buy.” Raymond James upgrades Liquidia on YUTREPIA launch
• Negative Sentiment: Reported GAAP results included a $389.7 million charge, producing a substantial quarterly loss despite strong revenue and adjusted earnings performance. Wells Fargo raised its target to $40 but kept an “equal weight” rating, signaling a more cautious view at the current valuation. A charge masks a booming YUTREPIA quarter

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for pulmonary hypertension and other serious diseases. Its work includes inhaled therapies designed to deliver medicines to the lungs. The company’s marketed product, Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, is approved in the United States for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease. Liquidia also has a pipeline of investigational therapies, including other formulations of treprostinil.