Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Takes Position in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Key Points

• Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd initiated a new position in Liquidia, buying 247,405 shares valued at about $9.34 million. The stake makes up 1.5% of Capricorn’s portfolio and about 0.28% of Liquidia’s outstanding shares.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including recent transactions by Sanjeev Khindri and Sarah Krepp. In total, insiders sold 2.3 million shares worth about $133 million over the last 90 days.
• Liquidia shares rose 6.1% and the company posted strong quarterly results, including EPS of $0.52 versus an expected $0.41 and revenue of $132.87 million, well above estimates. Analysts remain broadly positive, with several raising price targets and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 247,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,337,000. Liquidia accounts for 1.5% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd owned approximately 0.28% of Liquidia at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Liquidia by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Liquidia during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Liquidia by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 67,050 shares of the company's stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sanjeev Khindri sold 4,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total transaction of $270,611.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 67,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,394,460.72. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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. Also, insider Sarah Krepp sold 24,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.28, for a total value of $1,748,566.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 121,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,564,531.64. This trade represents a 16.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 2,302,030 shares of company stock worth $132,996,894 in the last ninety days. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Liquidia Stock Up 6.1%

LQDA opened at $79.73 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 569.54 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $58.25 and its 200-day moving average is $44.42. Liquidia Corporation has a one year low of $11.85 and a one year high of $80.69.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) 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 business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $119.44 million. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LQDA. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liquidia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.88.

Liquidia Company Profile

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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