Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Sells $17,063,005.67 in Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Stephen Bloch sold 242,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.43, for a total value of $17,063,005.67. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,176,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,838,639.12. This trade represents a 17.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Liquidia Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.23. 1,693,791 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,738,461. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.67. The firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 508.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. Liquidia Corporation has a 52-week low of $11.85 and a 52-week high of $72.71.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 124.5% during the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,732,000 after purchasing an additional 113,609 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,111,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Liquidia by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after purchasing an additional 360,372 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Liquidia by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,734,000 after buying an additional 14,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Liquidia during the 1st quarter worth $3,650,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.29.

About Liquidia

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).