Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $18.02, but opened at $14.65. Liquidia shares last traded at $14.03, with a volume of 3,223,525 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price target on Liquidia and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Liquidia Trading Down 5.7%

The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.67 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.09.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 million. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 163.21% and a negative net margin of 765.38%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,450 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 263,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,597,287.84. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total value of $25,185.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 184,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,501,005.28. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,138 shares of company stock valued at $450,233. 26.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,948,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 2,675.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 700,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after acquiring an additional 674,940 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 1,484.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 535,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,293,000 after acquiring an additional 501,752 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,880,000. Finally, Eversept Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 314.1% during the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 571,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,719,000 after acquiring an additional 433,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).