420,800 Shares in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA Bought by Apis Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Apis Capital Advisors opened a new position of 420,800 shares in Liquidia during Q3, valued at about $9.57 million, representing roughly 2.1% of Apis’s portfolio and ~0.48% of Liquidia outstanding.
• Other institutions have also increased exposure—Vanguard now holds ~3.96M shares (~$90.1M), Caprock initiated a ~$37.1M stake and CenterBook boosted its position sharply—leaving 64.54% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts show improving sentiment with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $42.67 (Wells Fargo raised its target to $44), while Liquidia recently beat Q results (EPS $0.15 vs $0.08; revenue surged) despite still reporting negative net margin and return on equity.

Apis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 420,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,569,000. Liquidia accounts for about 2.1% of Apis Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Apis Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.48% of Liquidia at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liquidia by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,217 shares of the company's stock worth $90,078,000 after buying an additional 367,659 shares during the period. Opaleye Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 9.5% in the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,475,000 shares of the company's stock worth $30,838,000 after buying an additional 215,000 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liquidia in the third quarter worth approximately $37,114,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 2.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,747 shares of the company's stock worth $17,517,000 after acquiring an additional 32,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 811.7% during the second quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,103,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,754,000 after acquiring an additional 982,778 shares during the period. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LQDA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $31.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut Liquidia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.67.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of LQDA opened at $36.66 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $37.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.28. Liquidia Corporation has a 52 week low of $11.26 and a 52 week high of $46.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of -44.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $92.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.49 million. Liquidia had a negative net margin of 43.53% and a negative return on equity of 209.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post -1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 66,610 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $2,493,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,037,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,834,673.04. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Moomaw sold 20,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $768,550.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 154,514 shares in the company, valued at $5,783,459.02. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 212,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,964,719 in the last three months. Company insiders own 26.50% 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).

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