Swiss National Bank Acquires 18,400 Shares of Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,900 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.13% of Liquidia worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LQDA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 735.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 140,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 123,402 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 265.0% during the third 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 119.8% during the 3rd quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,702,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,020,000 after purchasing an additional 927,546 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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. grew its stake in Liquidia by 144.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,903,000 after buying an additional 230,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Liquidia in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidia news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 6,249 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 270,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,185,170.64. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 23,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $275,298.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 401,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,732,673.90. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,245 shares of company stock worth $843,326. Corporate insiders own 30.10% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock opened at $15.09 on Friday. Liquidia Co. has a 1 year low of $8.26 and a 1 year high of $16.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -9.26 and a beta of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.42.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Co. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

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).