Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Liquidia Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of LQDA stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 343,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,502,408. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.24, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.20. Liquidia has a 52-week low of $11.26 and a 52-week high of $41.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.68.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.41. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 296.78% and a negative net margin of 176.04%.The company had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.86 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1106.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 13,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $507,101.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 184,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,893,632.82. This trade represents a 6.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of the business’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 value of $2,493,212.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,037,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,834,673.04. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 323,354 shares of company stock valued at $11,046,731 in the last ninety days. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter valued at $1,485,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth $15,473,000. Diametric Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 148,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 62,443 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $775,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter worth about $1,068,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).