Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AQST. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:AQST opened at $4.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $533.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.54 and a beta of 1.49. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.93 and a 1 year high of $7.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.09.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $13.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.42 million. As a group, analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was 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 $125,500. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 17.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the period. Informed Momentum Co LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC raised its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 58,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 369,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. 32.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.