Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Liquidia Technologies reached a new 52-week high at $20.33, with its last trading price being $19.11 and a volume of 2,587,496 shares exchanged.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Liquidia, with a consensus target price of $26.89, while Wells Fargo increased their price objective to $25.00 and Bank of America lowered it to $23.00.
• Insider transactions revealed some selling activity, with notable sales including CFO Michael Kaseta offloading 11,580 shares at an average price of $14.28.

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.33 and last traded at $19.11, with a volume of 2587496 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on LQDA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price target on shares of Liquidia Technologies and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.89.

Liquidia Technologies Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $15.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.97 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

Liquidia Technologies (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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 million. Liquidia Technologies had a negative net margin of 903.80% and a negative return on equity of 177.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia Technologies, Inc. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Scott Moomaw sold 4,797 shares of Liquidia Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total value of $68,501.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,187,738.68. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 5,327 shares of Liquidia Technologies 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 $76,069.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,413 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,777.64. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,277 shares of company stock valued at $869,392 over the last three months. 26.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia Technologies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 31,516 shares of the company's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 10.2% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 65.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 7.4% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 18,641 shares of the company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia Technologies Company Profile

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).