Insider Selling: Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Sells 32,744 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Liquidia CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares on April 13 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan for about $1.26M, trimming his stake by 2.8% to 1,137,599 shares (worth roughly $43.65M).
• The sale was to cover tax withholding on vested equity and follows two other April sales (25,000 on April 9 and 21,433 on April 10), totaling 79,177 shares sold in April for approximately $3.12M.
• Liquidia traded near $38.71 (down ~0.4%) with a $3.41B market cap; analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and $43.44 target after a quarter that beat revenue and EPS estimates despite negative margins and an expected negative EPS for the year.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total value of $1,256,387.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,137,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,649,673.63. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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.

Roger Jeffs also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 10th, Roger Jeffs sold 21,433 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $859,891.96.
• On Thursday, April 9th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total value of $1,003,000.00.

Liquidia Stock Down 0.4%

LQDA stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.71. The stock had a trading volume of 844,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,775,539. Liquidia Corporation has a 1-year low of $11.85 and a 1-year high of $46.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.87 and a 200 day moving average of $32.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.64 and a beta of 0.45.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $92.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.49 million. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 209.33% and a negative net margin of 43.53%.Liquidia's quarterly revenue was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 2.0% in the third quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 28,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liquidia has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.44.

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).

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