Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) Trading Up 5.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares were up 5.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Raymond James Financial raised their price target on the stock from $33.00 to $41.00. Raymond James Financial currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Liquidia Technologies traded as high as $26.39 and last traded at $26.53. Approximately 2,712,016 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the average daily volume of 1,754,774 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.20.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LQDA. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Liquidia Technologies in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Liquidia Technologies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.40.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia Technologies

In other news, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 7,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $111,898.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 577,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,253,511.56. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 376,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,528,240. The trade was a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,277 shares of company stock valued at $1,469,392 in the last three months. 26.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Liquidia Technologies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Liquidia Technologies by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 17,790 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Liquidia Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $526,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia Technologies by 2,342.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Technologies Stock Down 0.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.26 and a beta of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.30 and its 200-day moving average is $15.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.84, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 2.91.

Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $8.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 million. Liquidia Technologies had a negative net margin of 732.17% and a negative return on equity of 232.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 141.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liquidia Technologies, Inc. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Liquidia Technologies 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).