Stephen Bloch Sells 25,000 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Stephen Bloch sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.47, for a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 855,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,952,651.31. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Liquidia Trading Up 2.6%

LQDA opened at $81.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 580.26 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Liquidia Corporation has a twelve month low of $12.21 and a twelve month high of $82.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.03.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued 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. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.44 million. The firm’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LQDA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter worth $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 281.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is currently 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).