Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Insider Sarah Krepp Sells 7,864 Shares of Stock

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) insider Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $562,354.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,379,398.78. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Sarah Krepp also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 11th, Sarah Krepp sold 24,880 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.28, for a total transaction of $1,748,566.40.
• On Monday, June 1st, Sarah Krepp sold 276 shares of Liquidia stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $16,800.12.

Liquidia Stock Up 7.4%

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $76.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 546.40 and a beta of 0.55. Liquidia Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.04 and a 1-year high of $82.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia during the third quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake 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 worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary notes that Liquidia’s Yutrepia has had a strong commercial debut, suggesting early traction in its pulmonary arterial hypertension market opportunity. Can LQDA’s Yutrepia Drive Growth in the Competitive PAH Market?
• Neutral Sentiment: An investor letter from Laughing Water Capital mentioned Liquidia in a broader portfolio update, but did not provide a clear company-specific catalyst. Here’s Laughing Water Capital’s Updates on Liquidia Corp. (LQDA)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders, including the CEO, CFO, general counsel, and other executives, sold shares on July 13 in pre-arranged 10b5-1 transactions tied to tax withholding from vesting equity awards. While these sales were planned and not necessarily a bearish signal, the size and breadth of the sales may still pressure investor sentiment. SEC filing – Roger Jeffs sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LQDA. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.88.

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).