HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $35.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 45.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Liquidia Technologies from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Liquidia Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Liquidia Technologies Trading Up 5.1%

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $24.02 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.13 and a beta of 0.15. Liquidia Technologies has a 1-year low of $9.71 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.84.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 million. Liquidia Technologies had a negative net margin of 732.17% and a negative return on equity of 232.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 141.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia Technologies will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 328,268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $9,447,553.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 430,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,399,229.84. This represents a 43.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Raman Singh sold 45,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $1,174,974.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,691.55. The trade was a 59.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 881,097 shares of company stock worth $23,689,864. Insiders own 30.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Opaleye Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,838,000 after purchasing an additional 215,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia Technologies by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,517,000 after buying an additional 32,499 shares in the last quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia Technologies in the second quarter worth about $15,473,000. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 811.7% during the 2nd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,103,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,754,000 after acquiring an additional 982,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after acquiring an additional 82,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Technologies Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).