Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Up 3.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) shares shot up 3.1% during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Liquidia traded as high as $14.71 and last traded at $14.57. 617,093 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 1,189,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.13.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Liquidia from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Liquidia and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Liquidia from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $25,185.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 184,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,005.28. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $33,491.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 263,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,597,287.84. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,138 shares of company stock worth $450,233 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at $25,948,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 2,675.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 700,171 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 674,940 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 1,484.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 535,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,293,000 after acquiring an additional 501,752 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at $5,880,000. Finally, Eversept Partners LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 314.1% in the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 571,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,719,000 after acquiring an additional 433,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia Trading Down 2.4%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.16 and a 200-day moving average of $14.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.65 and a beta of 0.04.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.03). Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).