Liquidia Corporation (LQDA) - What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Of 12 analysts covering Liquidia, five rate it a buy, one a strong buy, four a hold and two a sell. The average 12-month price target is $72.85, although recent targets and ratings have been mixed.
• Recent financial results were mixed: Liquidia reported quarterly revenue of $171.68 million, up 1,842.1% year over year and above estimates, but earnings per share of $0.74 narrowly missed the $0.76 consensus forecast.
• Insider selling has been notable: Company insiders sold 566,598 shares worth approximately $25.85 million over the prior three months, while insiders still own 25.6% of the company and institutional investors own 64.54%.

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.85.

LQDA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $72.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $65.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, October 15th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th.

Liquidia Stock Performance

LQDA opened at $39.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $56.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $21.94 and a 12-month high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $168.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $932,549.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,125,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,064,151.04. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of Liquidia 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 sale, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,536,145.90. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 566,598 shares of company stock valued at $25,848,390 in the last three months. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 4.1% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 20,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 5.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Liquidia by 1.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 120,400 shares of the company's stock worth $4,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other serious cardiopulmonary diseases. The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition for inhaled and injectable medicines.

Liquidia's lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder formulation of treprostinil delivered through a proprietary inhaler.

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