Rajeev Saggar Sells 9,926 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) insider Rajeev Saggar sold 9,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $709,808.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,285,346.49. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Liquidia Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $77.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 555.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.08 and a 200-day moving average of $47.81. Liquidia Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.04 and a 1-year high of $82.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s YUTREPIA patent case appears to be turning more favorable, and the company is also being highlighted for expanding its patent position around the drug. That improves the outlook for protecting its pulmonary hypertension franchise and supports the bullish case for the stock. Liquidia (LQDA) Expands YUTREPIA As Patent Case Turns More Favorable
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains constructive overall, with Liquidia receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from analysts. That supports the stock’s longer-term outlook, but it is not a new catalyst on its own. Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders, including the CEO, CFO, general counsel, CAO, and others, disclosed stock sales at about the same price level. The trades were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans and tied to tax withholding from equity vesting, but the size and number of sales may still raise some investor caution. SEC filing – Roger Jeffs sale

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,993,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter worth $399,000. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter worth $287,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,395,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 113,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LQDA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company’s lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).