Insider Selling: Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Insider Sells $562,354.64 in Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) insider Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $562,354.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 117,178 shares in the company, valued at $8,379,398.78. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The transaction 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.

Sarah Krepp also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 11th, Sarah Krepp sold 24,880 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.28, for a total value of $1,748,566.40.
• On Monday, June 1st, Sarah Krepp sold 276 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $16,800.12.

Liquidia Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $75.27 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.10. Liquidia Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.04 and a 12 month high of $82.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 537.68 and a beta of 0.55.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth 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 grew its holdings in Liquidia by 281.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LQDA. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Three investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).