Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its price objective boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Liquidia in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $26.63.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $15.44 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $14.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.47 and a beta of 0.07. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $8.26 and a 1-year high of $16.99.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. On average, analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total value of $275,298.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 401,755 shares in the company, valued at $4,732,673.90. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 6,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total value of $73,613.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 270,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,185,170.64. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,245 shares of company stock worth $843,326. 30.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Liquidia by 735.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 140,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,402 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Liquidia by 265.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 99,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 72,591 shares in the last quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP boosted its position in Liquidia by 119.8% in the 3rd quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,702,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,020,000 after purchasing an additional 927,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Liquidia by 855.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 235,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 210,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Liquidia by 144.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,903,000 after purchasing an additional 230,820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).