Humacyte (US:HUMA) said on Monday in a Form 4 filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission that Ayabudge LLC, whose principals include the company’s CEO Laura Niklason and her husband Brady Dougan, its former chairman and a current director, sold 18.9 million shares, at $4 a share, for just over $6 million.

According to Fintel’s insider trading tracker, Dougan said he sold the shares in a block trade through  Ayabudge LLC to “pay down leverage while providing a mechanism for a purchaser to acquire a large block of shares at a time when HUMA was not conducting financing.”

Dougan revealed only that the buyer already owns Humacyte shares via its private investment in public equity (PIPE) investment and wanted to boost the stake.

In a separate filing, Founder Laura Niklason also reported buying 2,000 shares at $4.14 per share, directly in her name.

After the transactions, Niklason and Dougan own 20.6 million shares or about 20% of Humacyte’s outstanding shares.

Director Gordon Binder bought 110,000 shares at prices between $4 to $4.40 each earlier this month.

Humacyte last updated shareholders on company operations in mid August when it posted 35 cents a share second quarter earnings versus a $2.89 a share loss a year ago.

Noncash gains and other revenue from repricing its contingent liability from a 2021 merger with SPAC Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp drove the increase.

Importantly, management noted that its $189 million in cash and short term liquidity would provide sufficient capital to fund operations through 2024, beyond the expected timeline for potential approval of its HAV treatment for vascular trauma.

Senior Analyst Matt O’Brien from Piper Sandler reiterated his ‘underweight’ call on the shares and cut his price target to $3.50 from $4 a share. Jackson likes HUMA’s technology but believes approval timing may be delayed due to the current pace of enrollment in their studies.

Analyst Bruce Jackson from The Benchmark Company holds a much more upbeat view of the company and believes Humacyte has had a significant head start in the emerging industry. Jackson notes that the Ukrainian compassionate use program could be a precursor to European approval. Benchmark has a ‘buy’ rating and an $18 target on HUMA.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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