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

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

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AQST. Oppenheimer began coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th.

Insider Transactions at Aquestive Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Daniel Barber sold 8,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total value of $35,422.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 660,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,862.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $125,500. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AQST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 30.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,651,000 after buying an additional 1,333,627 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 159.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,032,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,132,000 after buying an additional 1,249,044 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased 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 valued at $9,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,459 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 6,233.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,171,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 804.6% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,188,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3%

NASDAQ:AQST opened at $3.77 on Friday. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.93 and a 12-month high of $7.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.02 million, a PE ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.11.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $14.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 million. On average, research analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

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.