Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Stock Price Down 10.4% Following Insider Selling

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) traded down 10.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $4.32 and last traded at $4.4720. 789,612 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 3,158,161 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.99.

Specifically, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total value of $125,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,500. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AQST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aquestive Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Down 11.3%

The company has a market cap of $555.12 million, a P/E ratio of -7.25 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.40.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $14.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQST. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $504,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 99.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,405,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,459 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 103.9% in the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 264,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 133.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 16,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

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.