Wells Fargo & Company Raises Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Price Target to $25.00

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price points to a potential upside of 77.30% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Liquidia from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 target price on shares of Liquidia and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.89.

Liquidia Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA traded down $0.35 on Thursday, reaching $14.10. 1,836,127 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,206,659. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $15.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.16. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $19.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.65 and a beta of 0.04.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Liquidia will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 14,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $191,744.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,006,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,657,119.40. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $25,185.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 184,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,501,005.28. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,138 shares of company stock worth $450,233 over the last three months. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Liquidia by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 85,463 shares of the company's stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the period. Bluefin Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company's stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company's stock worth $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 82,955 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

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).