DV Trading LLC Lowers Position in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Key Points

• DV Trading cut its Liquidia stake by 70.7% in the first quarter, selling 40,928 shares and retaining 17,000 shares valued at approximately $642,000. Institutional investors still own 64.54% of the company.
• Liquidia insiders sold 2.2 million shares worth roughly $144.9 million during the latest quarter, including substantial sales by directors Paul Manning and Stephen Bloch.
• Analyst sentiment remains a “Moderate Buy”, with a consensus price target of $86.18. Shares opened at $84.11, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $132.87 million, up 4,187.1% year over year, and EPS of $0.52.

DV Trading LLC decreased its stake in shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) by 70.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,928 shares during the quarter. DV Trading LLC's holdings in Liquidia were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company's stock worth $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 94,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total transaction of $12,782,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 716,311 shares in the company, valued at $45,779,436.01. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. The trade was a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,200,754 shares of company stock valued at $144,924,608. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.18.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $84.11 on Friday. Liquidia Corporation has a 52 week low of $16.82 and a 52 week high of $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 600.83 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.95. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. Liquidia's quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).

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