Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on LQDA. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.33.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Liquidia stock opened at $56.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.94. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 406.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $11.85 and a fifty-two week high of $59.75.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,932,209.66. This represents a 14.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $1,256,387.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,137,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,649,673.63. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,022,713 shares of company stock worth $44,689,753 in the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,656,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,547,000 after purchasing an additional 90,400 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,013,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,439,000 after purchasing an additional 52,671 shares during the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,838,000 after purchasing an additional 215,000 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,783,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,527,000 after purchasing an additional 151,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCG Crossover Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,887,000. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s first-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, reinforcing confidence that YUTREPIA is gaining commercial traction and that profitability is improving. Results: Liquidia Corporation Beat Earnings Expectations And Analysts Now Have New Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised estimates and price targets after the earnings report, including HC Wainwright boosting near-term EPS forecasts and keeping a Buy rating with a $67 target, which supports the bullish outlook on LQDA. Liquidia (LQDA) price target increased by 22.37% to 63.24
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation-focused commentary highlighted that YUTREPIA-driven profitability and strong first-quarter performance could justify Liquidia’s recent share price strength if launch momentum continues. A Look At Liquidia (LQDA) Valuation After YUTREPIA Fueled Profitability And Strong First Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks noted improving earnings estimate revisions, suggesting analysts see additional upside potential for Liquidia in the near term. Earnings Estimates Moving Higher for Liquidia Corporation (LQDA): Time to Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Stephen Bloch sold 318,893 shares, a notable insider transaction, but it does not necessarily signal a change in the company’s operating outlook. Stephen Bloch Sells 318,893 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst lowered a longer-dated EPS estimate, showing there is still some disagreement on how quickly growth can scale over time. Liquidia stock and analyst reports

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).