Insider Selling: Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Sells $1,509,500.00 in Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.38, for a total value of $1,509,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,048,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,283,976.10. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Thursday, May 21st, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.13, for a total transaction of $1,528,250.00.
• On Tuesday, May 19th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.65, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $1,426,000.00.
• 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $1,002,500.00.
• On Friday, April 17th, Roger Jeffs sold 18,839 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 value of $132,000.00.

Liquidia Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of LQDA stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,283,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,211. The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 429.32 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. Liquidia Corporation has a 52-week low of $11.85 and a 52-week high of $62.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.56.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Liquidia during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Liquidia during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.33.

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).