Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $88.05, but opened at $83.64. Liquidia shares last traded at $83.29, with a volume of 754,975 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The firm had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.49) EPS. Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liquidia news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.48, for a total value of $8,948,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 501,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,872,161.96. This represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $562,354.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,379,398.78. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,781,861 shares of company stock valued at $124,407,112. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Liquidia by 41.9% in the 4th 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Stock Down 4.2%

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 firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 599.77 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.51.

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).