Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs Sells 66,610 Shares

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $2,493,212.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,037,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,834,673.04. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Liquidia Trading Up 4.1%

NASDAQ LQDA opened at $38.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. Liquidia Corporation has a 52 week low of $11.26 and a 52 week high of $39.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.58. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.48.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.41. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 176.04% and a negative return on equity of 296.78%. The business had revenue of $54.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.86 million. The business’s revenue was up 1106.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell materially in December — short interest declined about 18.1% to ~10.71M shares as of Dec. 31 (about 17.6% of shares outstanding), lowering potential downward pressure from short sellers and reducing immediate squeeze risk.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for Jan. 12 appears inconsistent (shows 0 shares / NaN change), which looks like a reporting glitch and should be treated as unreliable until corrected.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares at an average of $37.43 for roughly $2.49M, reducing his direct stake by ~6.0%. SEC Filing – Roger Jeffs
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Michael Kaseta sold 36,932 shares at $37.43 for about $1.38M, a ~9.5% reduction in his holding. SEC Filing – Michael Kaseta
• Negative Sentiment: General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 27,289 shares at $37.43 for about $1.02M, a ~4.5% stake reduction. SEC Filing – Russell Schundler
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Rajeev Saggar sold 21,142 shares at $37.43 (~$791k), cutting his holdings by ~10.7%. SEC Filing – Rajeev Saggar
• Negative Sentiment: Scott Moomaw sold 20,533 shares at $37.43 (~$769k), an ~11.7% reduction in his stake. SEC Filing – Scott Moomaw
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Dana Boyle sold 11,047 shares at $37.43 (~$413k), a ~6.6% reduction. SEC Filing – Dana Boyle
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Jason Adair sold 13,548 shares at $37.43 (~$507k), and Sarah Krepp sold 13,165 shares (~$493k); both reduced holdings by mid-single-digit to high-single-digit percentages. SEC Filing – Jason Adair SEC Filing – Sarah Krepp

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LQDA. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Liquidia from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,703,000 after buying an additional 82,955 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Liquidia by 15.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 16,022 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Liquidia by 6.0% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 85,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 4,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Liquidia by 10.2% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).