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

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.80.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AQST shares. Lake Street Capital set a $6.00 target price on Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insider Activity at Aquestive Therapeutics

In related news, insider Lori J. Braender sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total value of $167,225.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 442,879 shares in the company, valued at $1,846,805.43. This represents a 8.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sherry Korczynski sold 15,741 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total transaction of $65,639.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 241,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,457.89. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 395,690 shares of company stock valued at $1,650,027 over the last quarter. 8.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 17.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649 shares in the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC now owns 155,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 369,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 61,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 3,934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

Aquestive Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AQST opened at $4.26 on Friday. Aquestive Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.12 and a one year high of $7.55. The company has a market cap of $519.91 million, a PE ratio of -5.46 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.07 and a 200-day moving average of $5.09.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $13.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.28 million. Analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal 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.