Scott Moomaw Sells 9,539 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Key Points

• Liquidia insider Scott Moomaw sold 9,539 shares on July 13 at an average price of $71.51, totaling about $682,134. The sale was part of a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and was made to cover tax withholding related to vesting equity awards.
• Liquidia shares were trading higher, recently rising to $76.49, near the stock’s 12-month high of $82.96. The company has a market cap of about $6.8 billion and has seen strong momentum relative to its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on Liquidia after the company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. The stock carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $68.88, while several firms recently lifted their targets.

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) insider Scott Moomaw sold 9,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $682,133.89. Following the transaction, the insider owned 182,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,049,502.35. This trade represents a 4.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock traded up $5.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,219,263. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Liquidia Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.04 and a 12 month high of $82.96. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 546.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average is $66.37 and its 200 day moving average is $47.52.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The firm's revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Liquidia by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,179,000 after purchasing an additional 24,555 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 102.1% in the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company's stock worth $194,783,000 after buying an additional 4,326,876 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter worth $1,536,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at $709,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Liquidia by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,783,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,527,000 after buying an additional 151,832 shares during the last quarter. 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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