Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.56.

Several research analysts have weighed in on LQDA shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Liquidia from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Liquidia Trading Down 6.6%

Shares of LQDA opened at $15.56 on Friday. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $19.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.55 and a beta of 0.24.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. Equities research analysts predict that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, insider Jason Adair sold 1,856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $25,185.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 184,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,005.28. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 8,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $112,400.31. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 396,315 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,994.55. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,138 shares of company stock valued at $450,233. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the first quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia by 65.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the first quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 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).