Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia to “strong sell” from “hold,” contrasting with other analysts’ views. The stock has an overall “hold” consensus rating and an average price target of $98.08.
• Liquidia shares opened at $67.49, with a 12-month range of $21.15 to $93.61 and a market capitalization of approximately $6.04 billion.
• The company reported quarterly revenue of $171.68 million, up 1,842.1% year over year, but its $0.74 EPS missed estimates by $0.02. Insiders sold 622,519 shares worth about $48.1 million during the quarter.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

LQDA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock opened at $67.49 on Tuesday. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $21.15 and a 12 month high of $93.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.26 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The business had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.49) EPS. The company's revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,130,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,836,763.26. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Stephen Bloch sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.48, for a total transaction of $8,948,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 501,477 shares in the company, valued at $44,872,161.96. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 622,519 shares of company stock valued at $48,078,514. Insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the second quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter worth $758,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at $1,236,000. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia's lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.