Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 124.87% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LQDA. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped 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. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of LQDA opened at $15.12 on Thursday. Liquidia has a 1 year low of $8.26 and a 1 year high of $16.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $14.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.28 and a beta of 0.07.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 22,343 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 $263,200.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,005,905.06. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 16,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.78, for a total transaction of $193,109.54. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 573,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,755,570.84. This represents a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,245 shares of company stock valued at $843,326. 30.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Liquidia by 735.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 140,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,402 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 265.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 99,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 72,591 shares during the period. Whitefort Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 119.8% during the third quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 1,702,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,020,000 after acquiring an additional 927,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 855.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 235,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 210,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Liquidia by 144.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 230,820 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).