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

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total value of $1,426,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,198,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,339,338.80. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, May 13th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $1,003,500.00.
• On Tuesday, April 14th, Roger Jeffs sold 3,300 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $132,000.00.
• On Monday, April 13th, Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $1,256,387.28.
• On Friday, April 10th, Roger Jeffs sold 21,433 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $859,891.96.
• On Thursday, April 9th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00.

Liquidia Trading Down 4.0%

LQDA stock traded down $2.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,143,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,717,407. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 406.67 and a beta of 0.41. Liquidia Corporation has a 52-week low of $11.85 and a 52-week high of $59.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s first-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, reinforcing confidence that YUTREPIA is gaining commercial traction and that profitability is improving. Results: Liquidia Corporation Beat Earnings Expectations And Analysts Now Have New Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised estimates and price targets after the earnings report, including HC Wainwright boosting near-term EPS forecasts and keeping a Buy rating with a $67 target, which supports the bullish outlook on LQDA. Liquidia (LQDA) price target increased by 22.37% to 63.24
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation-focused commentary highlighted that YUTREPIA-driven profitability and strong first-quarter performance could justify Liquidia’s recent share price strength if launch momentum continues. A Look At Liquidia (LQDA) Valuation After YUTREPIA Fueled Profitability And Strong First Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks noted improving earnings estimate revisions, suggesting analysts see additional upside potential for Liquidia in the near term. Earnings Estimates Moving Higher for Liquidia Corporation (LQDA): Time to Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Stephen Bloch sold 318,893 shares, a notable insider transaction, but it does not necessarily signal a change in the company’s operating outlook. Stephen Bloch Sells 318,893 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst lowered a longer-dated EPS estimate, showing there is still some disagreement on how quickly growth can scale over time. Liquidia stock and analyst reports

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Liquidia by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,783,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326,876 shares during the period. TCG Crossover Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,887,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,114,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC increased its position in Liquidia by 600.4% during the 4th quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,869 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,571,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).