Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock Falls 5.8% – Time to Sell?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s share price was down 5.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $70.14 and last traded at $69.38. 144,867 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 1,699,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.67.

More Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: YUTREPIA adoption is generating substantial revenue, profits and cash flow, providing Liquidia with an operating foundation for continued growth. The company also plans to appeal the ruling and pursue a potential label modification. Liquidia: Bullish On Their Growth Potential Despite YUTREPIA’s Legal Tail Risk
• Neutral Sentiment: The Delaware District Court found two of the six asserted claims in United Therapeutics’ ’327 patent valid and infringed, while ruling that the remaining claims were invalid. The companies must submit proposed remedies within one week, leaving the precise commercial impact unresolved. Liquidia Provides Update on Hatch-Waxman Litigation Tied to ‘327 Patent
• Negative Sentiment: The adverse patent decision threatens YUTREPIA’s commercial outlook. Potential remedies range from removing the pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) indication to restricting the product’s broader market availability; United Therapeutics is seeking injunctive relief. Liquidia has said it will appeal, but the company cannot yet estimate its potential financial exposure. Liquidia Slumps After US Court Rules for United Therapeutics in Patent Fight
• Negative Sentiment: The litigation news triggered repeated LULD and news-pending trading halts as investors reassessed YUTREPIA’s revenue potential. The sharp selloff reflects the risk that the product’s rapid growth—revenue rose more than 1,800% year over year in the latest reported quarter—could be curtailed by the patent remedy.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on Liquidia in a report on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler set a $129.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.32.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.48 million. Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.49) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jason Adair sold 73,631 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $5,087,165.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 174,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,528.54. This trade represents a 29.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 35,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $2,520,655.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,130,426 shares in the company, valued at $80,836,763.26. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 a total of 597,519 shares of company stock worth $46,091,764 in the last three months. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Liquidia by 5.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 1.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 120,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Liquidia by 10.2% in the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 20,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with serious cardiopulmonary diseases and other rare conditions. The company uses its proprietary PRINT technology to engineer drug particles with controlled size, shape and composition, with the goal of improving the delivery and performance of medicines.

Liquidia’s lead product is Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, a dry-powder inhaler designed for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).