Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.80.

AQST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, CEO Daniel Barber sold 8,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total value of $35,422.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 660,574 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,862.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO A Ernest Toth, Jr. sold 58,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total value of $242,919.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 376,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,568,387.04. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 403,947 shares of company stock valued at $1,685,450 over the last 90 days. 6.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 78.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 103.9% in the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 264,000 shares in the last quarter. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aquestive Therapeutics Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:AQST opened at $4.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $505.56 million, a PE ratio of -6.61 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.57. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.93 and a 12-month high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $14.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Aquestive Therapeutics Company Profile

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel drug delivery systems. Leveraging its proprietary PharmFilm® technology, Aquestive designs thin-film formulations that facilitate sublingual, buccal and oral delivery of small molecules, offering rapid onset of action and improved patient compliance compared with traditional dosage forms.

The company’s lead product, Libervant® (diazepam) Buccal Film, is approved by the U.S.