Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Up 5.5% – Here’s What Happened
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyLiquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA – Get Free Report) shares shot up 5.5% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $27.16 and last traded at $28.14. Approximately 323,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,023,550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.68.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Lifesci Capital lowered Liquidia from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Stephens set a $130.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Liquidia
Liquidia Price Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.31.
Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.49) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Liquidia
In other news, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 18,393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $1,328,526.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,637 shares in the company, valued at $3,224,130.51. This represents a 29.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total transaction of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 757,996 shares of company stock worth $46,429,005 in the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Liquidia by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Liquidia by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 120,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 20,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth about $175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.
About Liquidia
Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.
Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).