ACT Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Liquidia Corporation $LQDA

ACT Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Liquidia in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter worth $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter worth $25,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of Liquidia stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $16,017,995.39. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,870,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,932,209.66. The trade was a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $5,595,114.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 353,356 shares in the company, valued at $14,183,709.84. This trade represents a 28.29% 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 2,282,894 shares of company stock worth $128,344,713 over the last quarter. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liquidia from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price 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, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Liquidia from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.29.

Liquidia Stock Performance

LQDA stock opened at $68.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 490.39 and a beta of 0.58. Liquidia Corporation has a 1-year low of $11.85 and a 1-year high of $73.22.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. Liquidia’s revenue was up 4187.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal 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).