Russell Schundler Sells 14,738 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 14,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $1,053,914.38. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 605,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,332,342.62. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Up 1.6%

LQDA opened at $77.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 555.40 and a beta of 0.55. Liquidia Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.04 and a twelve month high of $82.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth $1,993,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $399,000. Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $287,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $1,395,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in Liquidia by 124.5% during the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 204,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,732,000 after purchasing an additional 113,609 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LQDA has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.88.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia’s YUTREPIA patent case appears to be turning more favorable, and the company is also being highlighted for expanding its patent position around the drug. That improves the outlook for protecting its pulmonary hypertension franchise and supports the bullish case for the stock. Liquidia (LQDA) Expands YUTREPIA As Patent Case Turns More Favorable
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains constructive overall, with Liquidia receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from analysts. That supports the stock’s longer-term outlook, but it is not a new catalyst on its own. Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders, including the CEO, CFO, general counsel, CAO, and others, disclosed stock sales at about the same price level. The trades were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans and tied to tax withholding from equity vesting, but the size and number of sales may still raise some investor caution. SEC filing – Roger Jeffs sale

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).