Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Stock: Insider Russell Schundler Sells 13,692 Shares

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) General Counsel Russell Schundler sold 13,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $389,948.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 602,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,168,911.68. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Liquidia Price Performance

NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $33.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.74. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.61. Liquidia Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.94 and a 52-week high of $93.61.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%. The company had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.49) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1842.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LQDA. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth about $175,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Liquidia during the second quarter worth approximately $177,000. Hurley Capital LLC raised its stake in Liquidia by 140.7% in the fourth quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the first quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new stake in Liquidia in the first quarter valued at approximately $259,000. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LQDA. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Liquidia from $130.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Liquidia currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.31.

Key Headlines Impacting Liquidia

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement allows Liquidia to continue commercializing YUTREPIA for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) without interruption, removing a major source of legal and commercial uncertainty. Liquidia settlement announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary third-quarter YUTREPIA sales reached $222.7 million, contributing to $396.1 million in cash and equivalents. Management said it expects ongoing sales and existing cash to fund settlement obligations and clinical programs without additional financing. RTTNews settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved following the agreement. BTIG upgraded LQDA from “neutral” to “buy” with a $70 price target, while Lifesci Capital raised its rating to “outperform” and set a $59 target. Needham maintained “buy” but lowered its target to $58.
• Positive Sentiment: Trading activity reflected strong investor interest, with call-option volume more than doubling its average level.
• Neutral Sentiment: Liquidia agreed to pay United Therapeutics a net $380.7 million, including $175 million within 30 business days, $145.4 million in 2027 installments and $60.3 million tied to the antitrust litigation. The payments resolve the disputes but will significantly draw down cash.
• Negative Sentiment: The company will not appeal the patent ruling and is removing the PH-ILD indication from YUTREPIA’s label. It also ended promotion of Treprostinil Injection, narrowing potential revenue opportunities. Zacks settlement analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple executives and insiders sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding on vested awards. Because the sales were planned and left executives with substantial holdings, they are a limited standalone signal, but broader insider activity remains heavily weighted toward selling.

About Liquidia

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).