Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Price Down 6.3% – Here’s What Happened

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) traded down 6.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $70.85 and last traded at $73.25. 1,614,717 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 1,859,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Liquidia in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on 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 restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.88.

Liquidia Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 530.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 716,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,302,030 shares of company stock valued at $132,996,894. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LQDA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Liquidia by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Liquidia by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 861,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after acquiring an additional 82,955 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 16,022 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Liquidia by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 7,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 94,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

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).