Caprock Group LLC Grows Stake in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Key Points

• Caprock Group increased its stake in Liquidia by 9.3% to 1,783,921 shares (about $61.5M), while institutional ownership stands at 64.54% and insiders have sold 578,824 shares (~$22.75M) in the last 90 days under Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $43.44, and several firms have recently raised price targets (Jefferies to $55) amid mixed individual ratings.
• Liquidia beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.15 vs. $0.08 and revenue of $92.02M vs. $87.49M, reporting an extraordinary year-over-year revenue increase of ~3072%, though profitability metrics remain negative.

Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,783,921 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 151,832 shares during the period. Liquidia comprises 1.3% of Caprock Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Caprock Group LLC owned approximately 2.05% of Liquidia worth $61,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LQDA. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Liquidia by 102.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,565,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $194,783,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326,876 shares in the last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,887,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,571,000. Apis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,569,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Liquidia by 10.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Liquidia from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Liquidia in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Liquidia from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.44.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, insider Jason Adair sold 7,301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $280,139.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 215,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,265,895.62. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, CAO Dana Boyle sold 5,101 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total value of $195,725.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 176,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,788,343.66. This trade represents a 2.80% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 578,824 shares of company stock valued at $22,752,524 in the last 90 days. 30.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $36.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.62. Liquidia Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.85 and a 12-month high of $46.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of -43.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. Liquidia had a negative return on equity of 209.33% and a negative net margin of 43.53%.The firm had revenue of $92.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.49 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3072.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Liquidia Corporation will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liquidia 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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