Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Upgraded to "Outperform" at Lifesci Capital

Key Points

• Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to “Outperform” from “Market Perform” and set a $59 price target, implying approximately 73.8% upside from the prior close.
• Liquidia shares rose 26.6% to $33.94 on heavy trading volume. Other analysts remain mixed, with the stock carrying an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $77.31.
• The company reported strong revenue growth in its latest quarter, though earnings slightly missed estimates; institutional investors own approximately 64.5% of Liquidia’s shares, while insiders have recently sold stock.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Lifesci Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $59.00 price target on the stock. Lifesci Capital's price objective points to a potential upside of 73.84% from the stock's previous close.

LQDA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wedbush set a $58.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. BTIG Research raised shares of Liquidia from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price objective on Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Liquidia from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liquidia presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.31.

Liquidia Stock Up 26.6%

NASDAQ:LQDA traded up $7.13 on Wednesday, hitting $33.94. 20,741,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,192,645. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a 1 year low of $21.94 and a 1 year high of $93.61. 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 $63.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.76.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%. Liquidia's revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.49) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $932,549.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,125,848 shares in the company, valued at $32,064,151.04. The trade was a 2.83% 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 have sold 745,194 shares of company stock worth $41,081,702 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Bank of America Corp DE grew 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 valued at $86,341,000 after purchasing an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 33.0% in 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 period. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,694,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia settled all six pending patent, antitrust, trade-secret and contract disputes with United Therapeutics. The agreement allows YUTREPIA to remain available for PAH patients and eliminates years of litigation uncertainty. Liquidia settlement announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary third-quarter YUTREPIA net product sales reached $222.7 million, and Liquidia reported $396.1 million in cash and equivalents as of September 30. Management expects ongoing sales and cash on hand to fund settlement payments and clinical programs without additional financing.
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG upgraded Liquidia from “neutral” to “buy” with a $70 price target. Needham maintained a “buy” rating while reducing its target to $58, suggesting analysts still see substantial upside following the settlement.
• Positive Sentiment: Trading activity reflected strong investor interest, including call-option volume more than doubling its recent average. Liquidia also plans to continue advancing YUTREPIA and its L606 clinical program.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several executives and insiders, including the CEO and CFO, sold shares at $28.48 under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards. Because the transactions were largely administrative, they provide a limited standalone signal about management’s outlook. Liquidia insider sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement requires Liquidia to pay United Therapeutics a net $380.7 million, including $175 million within 30 business days, $145.4 million in 2027 installments and $60.3 million tied to antitrust litigation. The payments will significantly reduce the company’s cash cushion.
• Negative Sentiment: Liquidia agreed not to appeal a patent ruling and will remove the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA’s label. It will also stop promoting Treprostinil Injection, potentially limiting future revenue and YUTREPIA’s addressable market.

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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