Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Down 5.8% – Here’s Why

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares were down 5.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $70.14 and last traded at $69.38. 144,867 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,699,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LQDA shares. Stephens set a $130.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Lifesci Capital cut Liquidia from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 target price on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $36.00 target price on Liquidia in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.55 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.49) EPS. Liquidia’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liquidia news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,528.54. The trade was a 29.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Katherine Rielly-Gauvin sold 36,789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $2,758,807.11. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,347,328.63. The trade was a 45.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 622,519 shares of company stock valued at $48,078,514 in the last three months. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Liquidia by 63.3% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 58,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 22,592 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,694,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,727 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,993,000. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Liquidia by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 26,957 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with serious cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and serves healthcare providers and patients primarily in the United States.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia, an inhaled formulation of treprostinil designed for the treatment of PAH. The company has also developed treprostinil injection products and is pursuing additional therapies for rare cardiopulmonary diseases.