Sapient Capital LLC Trims Stake in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) by 25.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,600 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Liquidia were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. TCG Crossover Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,887,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC lifted its position in Liquidia by 600.4% in the fourth quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,400,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,316,000 after buying an additional 1,200,869 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $12,571,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 18.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,341,000 after acquiring an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Liquidia by 428.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 420,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,507,000 after acquiring an additional 341,009 shares during the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LQDA shares. Stephens set a $130.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Liquidia from $59.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liquidia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Liquidia from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Liquidia in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.18.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, Director Paul B. Manning sold 200,000 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total value of $12,782,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 716,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,779,436.01. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,870,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. The trade was a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,175,754 shares of company stock worth $143,922,108. Corporate insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Liquidia Stock Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock opened at $83.85 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.38. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $17.82 and a one year high of $91.10. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 598.97 and a beta of 0.58.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The company’s revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 3.02 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).