Insider Selling: Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Stephen Bloch sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.47, for a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 855,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,952,651.31. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Liquidia stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $79.21. 1,714,342 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,857,601. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 565.83 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.03. Liquidia Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.86 and a 12-month high of $80.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.77 and its 200-day moving average is $45.39.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 281.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).