Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Sell (D-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Liquidia Technologies received a "sell (D-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, indicating concerns about its market performance.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $32.38, as reported by multiple brokerages.
• In its latest earnings report, Liquidia missed EPS estimates by $0.06, reporting a negative return on equity of 232.96% despite a substantial year-over-year revenue increase of 141.5%.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LQDA. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Liquidia Technologies in a report on Friday, August 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Liquidia Technologies from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their target price on Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Liquidia Technologies Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Liquidia Technologies stock opened at $24.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.16 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $24.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.22. Liquidia Technologies has a 1-year low of $9.71 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.84, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

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

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia Technologies news, Director Raman Singh sold 45,524 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $1,174,974.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,255 shares in the company, valued at $806,691.55. This represents a 59.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 20,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 881,097 shares of company stock valued at $23,689,864. Insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia Technologies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia Technologies in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 18.7% in the first quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 662,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,777,000 after acquiring an additional 104,215 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 446.7% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 461,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,803,000 after acquiring an additional 376,872 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 2,342.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Liquidia Technologies by 2.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 5,547 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).

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