Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AQST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 20th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Up 6.6%

NASDAQ:AQST opened at $5.03 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.20 and a 200 day moving average of $4.41. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.93 and a 52 week high of $7.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.01 million, a P/E ratio of -8.25 and a beta of 1.46.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $14.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, CEO Daniel Barber sold 8,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 660,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,862.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 6.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,333,627 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,910,000 after purchasing an additional 860,562 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,368,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,301,000 after purchasing an additional 280,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 159.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,032,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,044 shares in the last quarter. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.