Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Director Sells $125,500.00 in Stock

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total transaction of $125,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,500. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Aquestive Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock opened at $4.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $550.73 million, a P/E ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.39. Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.93 and a 1-year high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted 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 company had revenue of $14.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 129,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 14,025 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,977,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,545,000 after purchasing an additional 276,295 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 13,130 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 137,956 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 35.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 140,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 36,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AQST shares. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $8.50.

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.