Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.38.

Several research firms recently commented on LQDA. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA opened at $16.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.98 and a beta of 0.27. Liquidia has a one year low of $8.26 and a one year high of $16.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 22,343 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total value of $263,200.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,005,905.06. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of Liquidia 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 $275,298.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 401,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,732,673.90. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,945 shares of company stock worth $874,403. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $545,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 25.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter worth $210,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter valued at $1,336,000. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth about $170,000. 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).