Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 6,218 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 139% compared to the average volume of 2,603 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LQDA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Liquidia from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Liquidia from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Liquidia stock opened at $14.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 0.04. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $8.26 and a fifty-two week high of $19.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.09.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 765.38% and a negative return on equity of 163.21%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 14,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $191,744.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,006,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,657,119.40. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 5,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.57, for a total transaction of $80,931.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 570,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,738,984.57. This represents a 1.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,138 shares of company stock worth $450,233. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 80,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Liquidia by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 65,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 188,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Liquidia by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 428,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,040,000 after buying an additional 38,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).