Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs Sells 25,000 Shares

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,516,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,848,680.04. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Liquidia Price Performance

NASDAQ:LQDA traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 700,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,789,002. Liquidia Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $11.85 and a fifty-two week high of $46.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.81 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.98 and a 200-day moving average of $32.80.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.49 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.44.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).