Liquidia’s (LQDA) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $52.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LQDA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, January 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $31.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $11.26 and a 12-month high of $46.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $2,493,212.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,037,528 shares in the company, valued at $38,834,673.04. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 21,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $791,345.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 176,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,730.69. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 216,820 shares of company stock worth $8,102,685 in the last ninety days. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).