Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 3.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares shot up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $34.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $15.45 and last traded at $15.42. 549,711 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 928,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

LQDA has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Liquidia from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $275,298.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 401,755 shares in the company, valued at $4,732,673.90. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $31,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 267,943 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,259. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,245 shares of company stock valued at $843,326 in the last quarter. Insiders own 30.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Liquidia by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,557,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,834,000 after purchasing an additional 115,367 shares during the last quarter. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,948,000. Whitefort Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,987,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,370,000 after buying an additional 285,220 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,698,000 after buying an additional 260,000 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,339,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,753,000 after buying an additional 101,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day moving average of $12.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 0.07.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.08). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. The business had revenue of $2.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Liquidia

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).