Insider Selling: Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Sells $2,520,655.99 in Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $2,520,655.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,130,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,836,763.26. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.

Roger Jeffs also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 27th, Roger Jeffs sold 6,428 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.18, for a total transaction of $399,693.04.
• On Tuesday, May 26th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.38, for a total value of $1,509,500.00.
• On Thursday, May 21st, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total value of $1,528,250.00.
• On Tuesday, May 19th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.65, for a total value of $1,466,250.00.
• On Friday, May 15th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total value of $1,426,000.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.29, for a total value of $1,407,250.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $1,037,500.00.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.09, for a total value of $1,052,250.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $1,002,500.00.
• On Friday, April 17th, Roger Jeffs sold 18,839 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total value of $764,863.40.

Liquidia Price Performance

Liquidia stock opened at $75.27 on Friday. Liquidia Corporation has a one year low of $14.04 and a one year high of $82.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.10. The company has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 537.68 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LQDA. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Liquidia by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Liquidia by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).