Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Liquidia shares hit a new 52-week high, reaching as high as $73.12 on Monday before settling lower, reflecting strong recent momentum in the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally constructive: several firms raised price targets, including Oppenheimer at $75, while MarketBeat shows an average rating of Moderate Buy with a $60.29 consensus target.
• The company reported a strong quarterly beat, with EPS of $0.52 versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $132.87 million versus $119.44 million forecast, though notable insider selling occurred in recent weeks.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $73.12 and last traded at $69.5090, with a volume of 19264 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LQDA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Liquidia Trading Down 0.9%

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 503.46 and a beta of 0.57.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 716,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total value of $270,611.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,394,460.72. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 have sold 2,061,903 shares of company stock worth $112,583,756. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company's stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 82,955 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 16,022 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Liquidia

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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