Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 10.2% – What’s Next?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares traded up 10.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $71.82 and last traded at $71.9150. 2,015,297 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average session volume of 1,723,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.29.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 517.18 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total value of $270,611.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 67,132 shares in the company, valued at $4,394,460.72. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 716,311 shares in the company, valued at $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,673,680 shares of company stock valued at $85,949,087. 25.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

About Liquidia

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).