Stephen Bloch Sells 50,000 Shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) Director Stephen Bloch sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.94, for a total transaction of $4,047,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 780,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,139,108.62. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Liquidia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $81.45 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 581.83 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.68. Liquidia Corporation has a 1-year low of $13.23 and a 1-year high of $82.96.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a return on equity of 46.82% and a net margin of 7.74%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LQDA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 102.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC bought a new position in Liquidia during the third quarter worth about $38,887,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 600.4% in the 4th quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,316,000 after buying an additional 1,200,869 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter worth $12,571,000. Finally, Apis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,569,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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).