Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Down 7.9% After Insider Selling

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price dropped 7.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $37.90 and last traded at $38.1370. Approximately 1,126,102 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 1,745,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.40.

Specifically, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 139,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $5,595,114.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 353,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,183,709.84. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 405,775 shares in the company, valued at $16,231,000. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $1,003,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,466,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,882,730.76. This trade represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LQDA has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.44.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat and improving near‑term fundamentals — Liquidia reported quarterly revenue and EPS above consensus, which supports the company’s growth thesis and likely attracted buyer interest ahead of the pullback. MarketBeat: Liquidia Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains constructive — several firms have raised price targets or reiterated buy/overweight opinions recently, providing research‑driven demand that can limit downside. MarketBeat: Analyst Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: High institutional ownership (~64.5%) — large holders can stabilize the share price; insider sales don’t automatically become sustained selling if institutions remain supportive. MarketBeat: Institutional Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Concentrated insider selling by C‑suite — multiple sizable sales from CFO Michael Kaseta (including multi‑hundred‑thousand and multi‑million dollar blocks) have been disclosed and are likely the main reason shares pulled back today; the volume and visibility of these sales can damage sentiment. InsiderTrades: Kaseta Sale
• Negative Sentiment: CEO and other officers also sold under 10b5‑1 plans — Roger Jeffs disclosed multi‑date sales (including a 25,000‑share block), reinforcing the perception of distributed insider exits that can cap near‑term upside even if planned. SEC Filing: Jeffs Sale

Liquidia Stock Down 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.55 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.26.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.49 million. The firm’s revenue was up 3072.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $3,148,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Liquidia by 428.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 420,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,507,000 after buying an additional 341,009 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $1,214,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $335,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $3,107,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).