Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Hold”

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

LQDA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial lowered Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $106.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Liquidia from $110.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush set a $58.00 price objective on Liquidia in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 target price on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Liquidia from $130.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

Liquidia Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $28.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.62 and a 200-day moving average of $62.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $93.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,130,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,836,763.26. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 597,519 shares of company stock valued at $46,091,764 in the last 90 days. 25.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,694,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Liquidia by 18.7% during 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 buying an additional 360,372 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the first quarter valued at about $9,337,000. T3 Companies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth about $6,084,000. Finally, Eversept Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% in the first 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 period. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidia News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s legal options are not exhausted: an appeal could potentially overturn or narrow the ruling, giving investors a possible path to recovery if Yutrepia’s market opportunity is preserved. Liquidia Stock Crashed 57% in a Day After a Delaware Court Ruling
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the litigation setback, Jefferies upgraded LQDA to “strong buy,” while HC Wainwright maintained a “buy” rating and set a $58 price target. These calls indicate that some analysts believe the selloff has overstated the long-term damage or that an appeal could succeed.
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its target from $130 to $58, and Needham reduced its target from $110 to $72, although both retained “buy” ratings. The sharply lower targets reflect materially higher legal and commercialization risk even among bullish analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG downgraded Liquidia to “neutral,” and Wells Fargo added to the analyst downgrades following the patent ruling. Analysts cited uncertainty over Yutrepia’s PH-ILD indication and the possibility that UTHR’s patent victory could limit Liquidia’s addressable market. Liquidia extends losses as Wells Fargo adds to downgrades
• Negative Sentiment: The court setback triggered a severe selloff, leaving LQDA on track for its worst week on record as investors reassessed Yutrepia’s revenue potential and Liquidia’s competitive position. The stock’s unusually heavy trading volume underscores the market’s heightened uncertainty. LQDA Stock On Track For Worst Week Ever

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).