Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Short Interest Down 18.1% in December

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,709,682 shares, a drop of 18.1% from the December 15th total of 13,078,126 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 924,707 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 11.6 days. Approximately 17.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 17.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 924,707 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 11.6 days.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In related news, insider Jason Adair sold 13,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $507,101.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,174 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.82. This trade represents a 6.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott Moomaw sold 20,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $768,550.19. Following the transaction, the insider owned 154,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,783,459.02. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 323,354 shares of company stock worth $11,046,731. 30.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia by 102.1% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,783,000 after acquiring an additional 4,326,876 shares in the last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,887,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,114,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,473,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 811.7% in the 2nd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,103,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,754,000 after buying an additional 982,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ:LQDA traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.36. 2,008,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,723,138. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of -27.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.48. Liquidia has a twelve month low of $11.26 and a twelve month high of $41.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.13 and a 200 day moving average of $26.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.41. The business had revenue of $54.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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).