Liquidia Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 14,263 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the typical volume of 10,292 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LQDA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liquidia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LQDA traded up $5.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $86.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,391,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,146. The firm has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 618.58 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Liquidia has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.45 and a 200-day moving average of $49.05.

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

Insider Transactions at Liquidia

In other news, insider Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $562,354.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,178 shares in the company, valued at $8,379,398.78. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 Liquidia stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 217,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,526,680.26. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 2,022,134 shares of company stock worth $129,579,224 in the last three months. Company insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Liquidia by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Liquidia by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Liquidia in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. 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).