Stephen Bloch Sells 72,534 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Stephen Bloch sold 72,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.38, for a total transaction of $4,669,738.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,564,407 shares in the company, valued at $100,716,522.66. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Liquidia Stock Up 9.8%

Shares of LQDA opened at $71.63 on Friday. Liquidia Corporation has a 12 month low of $11.85 and a 12 month high of $72.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.18 and its 200-day moving average is $40.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 511.68 and a beta of 0.58. 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 (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced 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. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd increased 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 last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Liquidia by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Liquidia by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is 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).