Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Announces Earnings Results

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 209.33% and a negative net margin of 43.53%.The company’s revenue was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $37.36 on Friday. Liquidia has a one year low of $11.26 and a one year high of $46.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LQDA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $31.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.67.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $1,382,364.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,134,898.17. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 21,142 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $791,345.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 176,883 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,730.69. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 212,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,964,719. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Liquidia by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,656,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,547,000 after buying an additional 90,400 shares during the period. Opaleye Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,838,000 after acquiring an additional 215,000 shares during the period. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth $38,887,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,620,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,911,000 after acquiring an additional 13,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MPM Bioimpact LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 600.4% in the fourth quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,869 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company’s lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).