Paul Manning Sells 200,000 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Paul Manning sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,779,436.01. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Liquidia Price Performance

Liquidia stock opened at $64.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 457.25 and a beta of 0.58. Liquidia Corporation has a 12 month low of $11.85 and a 12 month high of $66.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.11.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.Liquidia’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 on June 22. Index inclusion often brings passive fund buying and can improve liquidity, which is a strong positive for the stock. Liquidia Corporation Announces Inclusion in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted Liquidia’s recent strength and suggested the shares still look undervalued relative to growth prospects, reinforcing investor optimism. Liquidia Corp (LQDA) Stock Up 3.4% and Still Undervalued — GF Score: 75/100
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no shares reported as short, so this update does not currently appear to add meaningful trading pressure either way.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Stephen Bloch sold 2,064 shares, adding to recent insider sales, including larger disposals by Bloch and Paul B. Manning. While the sales are small relative to their holdings, insider selling can weigh on sentiment because it may be viewed as profit-taking. Stephen Bloch Sells 2,064 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.63.

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).