Liquidia Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 14,263 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the average volume of 10,292 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total transaction of $12,782,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the sale, the director owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,932,209.66. The trade was a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,022,134 shares of company stock valued at $129,579,224 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Liquidia by 281.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 140.7% during the fourth quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LQDA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $87.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 621.76 and a beta of 0.55. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.51.

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

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).