Rajeev Saggar Sells 9,926 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) insider Rajeev Saggar sold 9,926 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 value of $709,808.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,285,346.49. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA traded up $5.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.49. 1,153,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,219,263. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.52. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 546.40 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 52 week low of $14.04 and a 52 week high of $82.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released 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 net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter worth $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LQDA. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, May 11th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

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).