Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Liquidia has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 11 brokerages, with five buys, three strong buys, two sells and one hold. The average 12-month price target is $86.18, below the reported share price of $90.22.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.52 in EPS versus $0.41 expected and $132.87 million in revenue, up 4,187.1% year over year. Analysts project full-year EPS of $3.02.
• Insiders sold approximately 2.15 million shares worth $142.9 million over the past three months, while hedge funds and other institutions own 64.54% of Liquidia’s stock.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.1818.

LQDA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th.

Liquidia Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $90.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. Liquidia has a 52-week low of $19.02 and a 52-week high of $91.57. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $76.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.69. The firm has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 644.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. The firm's revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liquidia will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 100,000 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.48, for a total transaction of $8,948,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 501,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,872,161.96. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 688 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.53, for a total value of $60,220.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 216,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,944,818.14. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,150,754 shares of company stock worth $142,869,858. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 281.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the company's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company's lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source