Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 154.21% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on LQDA. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price target on Liquidia and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.56. The company had a trading volume of 816,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,072,878. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.65. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.93 and a beta of 0.24. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $8.26 and a 12 month high of $19.41.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results 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). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. The company had revenue of $3.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total transaction of $33,491.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 263,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,597,287.84. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total value of $25,185.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 184,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,005.28. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,138 shares of company stock worth $450,233. 26.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Liquidia by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the first quarter worth about $79,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Liquidia

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).