Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Liquidia Technologies, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from nine analysts, with the average 1-year price target set at $26.89.
• CEO Roger Jeffs recently sold 20,252 shares of the company's stock, representing a 1.91% decrease in his ownership.
• Large institutional investors have shown increased interest, with 64.54% of the stock currently owned by such investors, including notable increases from Raymond James and Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.89.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LQDA. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Liquidia Technologies and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on Liquidia Technologies from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 20,252 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $289,198.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,038,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,830,636.80. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 7,836 shares of Liquidia Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $111,898.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 577,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,253,511.56. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,277 shares of company stock worth $869,392. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,557,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,834,000 after buying an additional 115,367 shares during the period. Whitefort Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,987,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,370,000 after buying an additional 285,220 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,698,000 after buying an additional 260,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,339,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,753,000 after buying an additional 101,597 shares during the period. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,936,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia Technologies Stock Performance

Liquidia Technologies stock traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.68. 3,307,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,628,797. Liquidia Technologies has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $20.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.19 and a beta of -0.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $15.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.93.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 million. Liquidia Technologies had a negative return on equity of 177.91% and a negative net margin of 903.80%. On average, analysts expect 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).