Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Climb 11.5% – Here’s What Happened

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares shot up 11.5% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $51.11 and last traded at $47.0490. 1,360,608 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 2,273,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $65.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.85.

Liquidia Trading Up 15.0%

The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.89 and its 200-day moving average is $54.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $932,549.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,125,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,064,151.04. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 566,579 shares of company stock worth $25,746,120 in the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter worth about $177,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 839.1% in the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Liquidia by 13.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liquidia Company Profile

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.