Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Insider Scott Moomaw Sells 10,547 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Scott Moomaw sold 10,547 shares on April 13 at an average price of $38.34 for about $404,372 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding from equity vesting, reducing his stake by 5.41% to 184,558 shares.
• Earnings and outlook: Liquidia reported Q EPS of $0.15 (vs. $0.08 expected) and revenue of $92.02M (beating $87.49M), but still has a negative net margin (~−43.5%); analysts rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $43.44.
• Stock and ownership: LQDA traded around $38.71 (down ~0.4%) with a $3.41B market cap, a 1‑year range of $11.85–$46.67, and roughly 64.5% of shares held by institutions.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) insider Scott Moomaw sold 10,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $404,371.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 184,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,953.72. The trade was a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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.

Scott Moomaw also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 23rd, Scott Moomaw sold 18,314 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.79, for a total value of $673,772.06.

Liquidia Trading Down 0.4%

LQDA stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.71. The company's 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.64 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LQDA. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,148,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Liquidia by 428.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 420,621 shares of the company's stock worth $14,507,000 after purchasing an additional 341,009 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in Liquidia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,107,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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