Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading 6% Higher – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shot up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $69.87 and last traded at $69.6840. Approximately 402,522 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,716,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LQDA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Liquidia from $62.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Liquidia Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.45.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The business had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.53, for a total value of $140,048.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 167,919 shares in the company, valued at $14,697,950.07. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 18,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $1,328,526.39. Following the sale, the director directly owned 44,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,224,130.51. The trade was a 29.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 722,519 shares of company stock valued at $55,652,514 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $29,694,000. Eversept Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,565,000 after purchasing an additional 167,949 shares during the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% during the second quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.