Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Shares Down 5% – Should You Sell?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s stock price dropped 5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $33.57 and last traded at $33.2860. Approximately 116,169 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 2,104,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LQDA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $36.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Zacks Research raised Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Liquidia Trading Down 4.2%

The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other news, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 21,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $791,345.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 176,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,730.69. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 27,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $1,021,427.27. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 579,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,686,717.42. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 216,820 shares of company stock worth $8,102,685 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,290,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter worth $37,114,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia during the third quarter valued at $2,026,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Liquidia during the second quarter valued at about $1,485,000. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter worth about $15,473,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Liquidia

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).