Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

LQDA has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $106.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Stephens set a $130.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Liquidia from $110.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.00.

View Our Latest Analysis on LQDA

Liquidia Stock Performance

Liquidia stock opened at $27.99 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.78 and its 200-day moving average is $62.26. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Liquidia has a 12 month low of $21.35 and a 12 month high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 149.65%. The firm had revenue of $171.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total transaction of $5,087,165.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 174,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth $335,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Liquidia by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $177,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $758,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter worth about $1,236,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Appeal and label strategy provide potential recovery paths. Liquidia said it disagrees with the ruling, plans to pursue available appeals and intends to seek FDA approval to remove the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA’s label. A successful appeal or continued sales under a modified label could help restore investor confidence. Liquidia patent litigation update
  • Positive Sentiment: Needham maintained a Buy rating despite lowering its target. The firm reduced its price target from $110 to $72, but the revised target still implies substantial upside if YUTREPIA remains commercially viable and the litigation outcome improves. Needham price target update
  • Neutral Sentiment: The final remedy has not been determined. The court directed the parties to submit proposed remedies within one week. Outcomes could range from removing PH-ILD from YUTREPIA’s label to broader restrictions on product availability, while appeals and further proceedings could materially change the result. Reuters report on Liquidia patent ruling
  • Negative Sentiment: The ruling creates significant commercial and financial uncertainty. PH-ILD is one of YUTREPIA’s approved uses, and United Therapeutics is seeking injunctive relief that could restrict sales. Investors are therefore reassessing YUTREPIA’s revenue outlook, competitive position and potential litigation exposure. Zacks report on Liquidia patent setback

About Liquidia

(Get Free Report)

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).

See Also

Analyst Recommendations for Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Receive News & Ratings for Liquidia Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Liquidia and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.