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

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 65.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LQDA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

Liquidia Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $15.12 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.18. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $16.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.28 and a beta of 0.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 22,343 shares of Liquidia 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 $263,200.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,005,905.06. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,445 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $31,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 267,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,259. This trade represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,245 shares of company stock worth $843,326 in the last quarter. 30.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Whitefort Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

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).