Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Liquidia Co. (NASDAQ:LQDA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 11,247 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 374% compared to the typical volume of 2,375 call options.

Liquidia Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDA opened at $12.28 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.18. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $5.71 and a 12-month high of $16.99. The firm has a market cap of $937.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.87 and a beta of 0.25.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.22). Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 177.83% and a negative net margin of 674.42%. The business had revenue of $2.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liquidia will post -1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LQDA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Liquidia in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 3,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $45,722.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 315,045 shares in the company, valued at $4,593,356.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 8,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $121,888.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 826,985 shares in the company, valued at $12,057,441.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 3,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $45,722.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 315,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,593,356.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,653 shares of company stock worth $270,409 over the last 90 days. 31.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liquidia

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 24,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 33,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298 shares during the period. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 23,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.54% of the company’s stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).