Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an "overweight" rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential upside of 80.18% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on LQDA. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Lifesci Capital began coverage on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.60.

Liquidia Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,698,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,806. Liquidia has a 1-year low of $8.26 and a 1-year high of $16.99. The company has a market capitalization of $939.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.20.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 2,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.19, for a total transaction of $28,265.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,292,349.83. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 8,053 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total value of $89,468.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 812,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,023,464.23. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,007 shares of company stock worth $245,780 in the last three months. 30.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 18.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 207,961 shares of the company's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 32,076 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Liquidia by 398.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 10,421 shares during the period. Deuterium Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $120,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 80,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 8,871 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 10.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,842 shares of the company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).