CenterBook Partners LP Sells 359,867 Shares of Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP sharply reduced its Liquidia stake in the fourth quarter, selling 359,867 shares and cutting its position by 74.2% to 124,982 shares worth about $4.31 million.
• Other institutional investors were mixed on Liquidia, while insiders were notable sellers: Director Stephen M. Bloch and CFO Michael Kaseta both sold large blocks, and insiders sold a total of 1.45 million shares over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and issuing Buy/Strong Buy ratings; Liquidia also recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.52 EPS on $132.87 million in quarterly revenue.

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its position in Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA - Free Report) by 74.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,982 shares of the company's stock after selling 359,867 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP owned about 0.14% of Liquidia worth $4,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in 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 last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Liquidia by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,304 shares of the company's stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Kaseta sold 139,390 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $5,595,114.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 353,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,183,709.84. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,448,711 shares of company stock worth $71,404,763 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LQDA. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Liquidia to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.63.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock opened at $63.90 on Tuesday. Liquidia Corporation has a twelve month low of $11.85 and a twelve month high of $66.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 456.46 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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