Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 4.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shot up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $69.94 and last traded at $71.30. Approximately 96,947 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 1,701,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LQDA. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price target on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Lifesci Capital cut Liquidia from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Trading Up 7.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.74 and a beta of 0.53.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.49) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total transaction of $5,087,165.79. Following the transaction, the insider owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,528.54. This represents a 29.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 622,519 shares of company stock worth $48,078,514. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 3.6% in the first 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. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Liquidia by 5.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Liquidia by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 120,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,544,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 10.2% in the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 20,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.