Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Down 6.9% – Should You Sell?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) shares fell 6.9% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $72.40 and last traded at $72.5420. Approximately 250,864 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 1,826,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.93.

Liquidia News Roundup

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LQDA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.88.

Liquidia Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 546.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22.

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

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 20,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $1,460,949.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 345,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,728,515.55. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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. Also, insider Jason Adair sold 7,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $562,283.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 217,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,526,680.26. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold 2,040,973 shares of company stock valued at $130,344,087 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after buying an additional 24,555 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,536,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $709,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Liquidia by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,783,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,527,000 after acquiring an additional 151,832 shares during the period. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Liquidia by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 26,957 shares during the period. 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).