Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded Liquidia to “strong buy,” while overall analyst sentiment remains mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $84.
• Liquidia opened at $27.99, well below its 12-month high of $93.61. The stock’s financial profile includes a $2.51 billion market capitalization, a 20.43 P/E ratio and strong liquidity ratios.
• In its latest quarter, revenue surged 1,842.1% year over year to $171.68 million, though adjusted EPS of $0.74 narrowly missed estimates. Insiders sold approximately $46.1 million of shares over the past three months, while institutions own 64.54% of the stock.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LQDA. Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, September 20th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Liquidia from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday. Lifesci Capital cut Liquidia from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Liquidia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $27.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.26. Liquidia has a twelve month low of $21.35 and a twelve month high of $93.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, CAO Dana Boyle sold 1,600 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.53, for a total value of $140,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 167,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,697,950.07. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764 in the last three months. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company's stock worth $86,341,000 after acquiring an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP increased its position in Liquidia by 33.0% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 677,392 shares of the company's stock worth $25,565,000 after purchasing an additional 167,949 shares during the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE raised its stake in Liquidia by 2.4% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 388,377 shares of the company's stock worth $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth approximately $29,694,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP raised its stake in Liquidia by 25.2% during the second quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company's stock worth $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Appeal and label strategy provide potential recovery paths. Liquidia said it disagrees with the ruling, plans to pursue available appeals and intends to seek FDA approval to remove the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA’s label. A successful appeal or continued sales under a modified label could help restore investor confidence. Liquidia patent litigation update
• Positive Sentiment: Needham maintained a Buy rating despite lowering its target. The firm reduced its price target from $110 to $72, but the revised target still implies substantial upside if YUTREPIA remains commercially viable and the litigation outcome improves. Needham price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: The final remedy has not been determined. The court directed the parties to submit proposed remedies within one week. Outcomes could range from removing PH-ILD from YUTREPIA’s label to broader restrictions on product availability, while appeals and further proceedings could materially change the result. Reuters report on Liquidia patent ruling
• Negative Sentiment: The ruling creates significant commercial and financial uncertainty. PH-ILD is one of YUTREPIA’s approved uses, and United Therapeutics is seeking injunctive relief that could restrict sales. Investors are therefore reassessing YUTREPIA’s revenue outlook, competitive position and potential litigation exposure. Zacks report on Liquidia patent setback

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia's lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

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