Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Sells $859,891.96 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO Roger Jeffs sold 21,433 shares on April 10 at an average price of $40.12 for a total of $859,891.96 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding from vested equity, leaving him with 1,495,234 shares (a 1.41% reduction).
• Jeffs made additional April insider sales — 25,000 shares on April 9 for ~$1,003,000 and 32,744 shares on April 13 for ~$1,256,387 — reflecting multiple sizable dispositions during the month.
• Operational and analyst context: Liquidia beat the quarter's estimates (EPS $0.15 vs $0.08; revenue $92.02M vs $87.49M) but remains unprofitable with negative net margin and ROE, and has a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with a $43.44 price target.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 21,433 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total value of $859,891.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,495,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,988,788.08. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Monday, April 13th, Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $1,256,387.28.
• On Thursday, April 9th, Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of Liquidia stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $38.71. The stock had a trading volume of 844,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,775,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.64 and a beta of 0.45. Liquidia Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $11.85 and a fifty-two week high of $46.67.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.49 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LQDA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 82,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 16,022 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 7,765 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Liquidia by 13.4% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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