Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading 8% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Liquidia shares rose about 8% on Tuesday, reaching an intraday high of $76.59 and closing near $76.94, well above the prior close of $71.21.
• Multiple analysts have recently raised price targets and maintained bullish ratings, with the consensus view now at “Moderate Buy” and an average target of $68.88.
• The company also posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, while institutional ownership remains high at 64.54% despite notable insider selling in recent months.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $76.59 and last traded at $76.9410. 667,338 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 1,831,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Liquidia Stock Up 7.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 546.90 and a beta of 0.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $65.64 and its 200 day moving average is $47.23. 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 (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 139,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $5,595,114.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 353,356 shares in the company, valued at $14,183,709.84. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,932,209.66. This represents a 14.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,089,567 shares of company stock worth $128,662,130. 25.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 102.1% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company's stock worth $194,783,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326,876 shares during the period. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter valued at $38,887,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 600.4% in the fourth quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,869 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $12,571,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company's stock worth $86,341,000 after buying an additional 360,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company's stock.

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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