Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Liquidia Technologies has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $32.37.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales by executives, with Jason Adair selling over 26,000 shares and CFO Michael Kaseta selling 30,000 shares.
• Liquidia reported a 141.5% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, despite missing earnings estimates with a reported loss of ($0.49) per share.

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.3750.

A number of equities analysts have commented on LQDA shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a report on Friday, August 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia Technologies

In other Liquidia Technologies news, insider Jason Adair sold 26,057 shares of Liquidia Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total value of $725,948.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 171,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,764,867.94. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 376,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,528,240. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 824,863 shares of company stock valued at $22,886,842 over the last quarter. Insiders own 30.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 28,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia Technologies during the third quarter valued at $224,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 13.2% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 76,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,885 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 281.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the period. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia Technologies during the second quarter valued at $255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia Technologies Stock Down 4.2%

LQDA stock opened at $23.22 on Monday. Liquidia Technologies has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $29.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.38.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.06). Liquidia Technologies had a negative return on equity of 232.96% and a negative net margin of 732.17%.The company had revenue of $8.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 million. Liquidia Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 141.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Technologies will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Liquidia Technologies

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).

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