VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $1.24 Million in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 15,500 shares of Liquidia, valued at approximately $1.24 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 64.54% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $98.08, despite several analysts maintaining “Buy” ratings.
• Liquidia’s latest quarter showed revenue of $171.68 million, up 1,842.1% year over year, but earnings per share of $0.74 fell short of the $0.76 consensus estimate; insiders sold roughly $60.5 million of stock over the last quarter.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Liquidia by 281.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $175,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LQDA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens set a $130.00 price target on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $36.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $66.74 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $77.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Liquidia Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.15 and a 12 month high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The business's revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.49) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 36,789 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total value of $2,758,807.11. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,347,328.63. This trade represents a 45.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,130,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,836,763.26. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 quarter, insiders sold 790,089 shares of company stock valued at $60,549,874. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Liquidia Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia's lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.

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