Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Trading Up 7.1% – What’s Next?

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST)’s share price traded up 7.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4.63 and last traded at $4.5950. 2,647,385 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 2,998,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AQST. Wall Street Zen raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aquestive Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.12 and a 200 day moving average of $4.06. The stock has a market cap of $574.03 million, a PE ratio of -7.52 and a beta of 1.49.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.90 million. Equities analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, CEO Daniel Barber sold 8,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total value of $35,422.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 660,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,862.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $125,500. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $33,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,627 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 159.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,032,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,044 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 99.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,405,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,459 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 6,233.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,171,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,175 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.