Raymond James Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has raised its price target for Liquidia Technologies (LQDA) from $33.00 to $41.00, indicating a potential upside of 70.12% from its previous close.
• Despite the positive outlook from Raymond James, analysts have mixed ratings on LQDA, with one sell rating, one hold rating, six buy ratings, and two strong buy ratings contributing to an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Liquidia Technologies reported a 141.5% year-over-year increase in revenue, although it missed earnings expectations with a reported EPS of ($0.49) for the last quarter.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by Raymond James Financial from $33.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective suggests a potential upside of 58.00% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LQDA. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Liquidia Technologies and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Liquidia Technologies from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Liquidia Technologies from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Liquidia Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.95. 2,835,429 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,389,637. Liquidia Technologies has a 1 year low of $8.26 and a 1 year high of $26.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.26 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.84.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 732.17% and a negative return on equity of 232.96%. The business had revenue of $8.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 million. The firm's revenue was up 141.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Liquidia Technologies will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia Technologies

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 2,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $36,785.28. Following the sale, the insider owned 193,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,765,093.52. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.54, for a total value of $36,728.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 268,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,909,616.98. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 90,277 shares of company stock worth $1,469,392. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 18,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

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).