Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Price Target Raised to $109.00 at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research raised its price target on Liquidia to $109 from $59 and kept a buy rating, implying about 53% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed overall: the stock has several bullish ratings, but also some bearish views, with MarketBeat data showing a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $67.43.
• Liquidia recently reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while insiders have also sold shares in recent months, including a large sale by Director Paul B. Manning.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at BTIG Research from $59.00 to $109.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. BTIG Research's target price indicates a potential upside of 53.37% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on LQDA. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.43.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA opened at $71.07 on Monday. 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 $11.85 and a 52-week high of $73.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 507.68 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $53.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.31.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company's revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total transaction of $270,611.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,394,460.72. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 716,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,264,580 shares of company stock valued at $127,670,941. 25.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Liquidia by 10.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Liquidia by 15.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Liquidia by 40.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Liquidia by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 94,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by 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).

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