Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 11.5% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Liquidia shares rose 11.5% to $47.05, on trading volume about 40% below its average.
• Analyst views are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $72.85; ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Quarterly revenue rose 1,842.1% year over year to $171.68 million, beating estimates, while EPS of $0.74 narrowly missed expectations. Insiders sold 566,579 shares worth about $25.7 million over three months.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) shares were up 11.5% on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $51.11 and last traded at $47.0490. Approximately 1,360,608 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 2,273,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $65.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.85.

Liquidia Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.33.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%. The company's revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.49) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 36,789 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $2,758,807.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,637 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,347,328.63. This represents a 45.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 566,579 shares of company stock valued at $25,746,120. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in Liquidia by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 839.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $177,000. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other serious cardiopulmonary diseases. The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition for inhaled and injectable medicines.

Liquidia's lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder formulation of treprostinil delivered through a proprietary inhaler.

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