Jason Adair Sells 688 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Key Points

• Jason Adair sold 688 shares of Liquidia on April 27 at an average of $41.65 (total $28,655.20) under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding from vested awards, leaving him with 214,738 shares (a 0.32% reduction).
• Liquidia topped estimates in its last quarter, reporting $0.15 EPS vs. $0.08 expected and $92.02M revenue vs. $87.49M, although the company still shows a negative net margin and return on equity while revenue surged year-over-year.
• Analysts have raised price targets and the stock carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $43.44 (two Strong Buy, seven Buy, one Hold, two Sell).

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) insider Jason Adair sold 688 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.65, for a total transaction of $28,655.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 214,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,943,837.70. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.

Jason Adair also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 13th, Jason Adair sold 7,301 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $280,139.37.

Liquidia Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:LQDA traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 559,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,301. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.96 and a beta of 0.45. Liquidia Corporation has a one year low of $11.85 and a one year high of $46.67. The business's 50-day moving average is $36.32 and its 200-day moving average is $34.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.49 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. Liquidia's quarterly revenue was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LQDA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Two investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 4.7% during the first 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 10.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,703,000 after buying an additional 82,955 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 15.2% during the first 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 buying an additional 16,022 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 40.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 7,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 buying an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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