Liquidia's (LQDA) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $25.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target points to a potential upside of 66.33% from the company's current price.

LQDA has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 target price on Liquidia and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Liquidia from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Liquidia stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.03. 1,879,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,318. Liquidia has a 52-week low of $8.26 and a 52-week high of $19.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.72. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.22 and a beta of 0.24.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.03). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. The business had revenue of $3.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.23 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $33,491.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 263,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,597,287.84. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 14,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total value of $191,744.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,006,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,657,119.40. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,138 shares of company stock valued at $450,233. Insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,557,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,834,000 after acquiring an additional 115,367 shares during the last quarter. LM Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,948,000. Whitefort Capital Management LP raised its position in Liquidia by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,987,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,370,000 after purchasing an additional 285,220 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in Liquidia by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,698,000 after purchasing an additional 260,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Liquidia by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,339,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,753,000 after purchasing an additional 101,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Liquidia 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).