Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s What Happened

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST)’s stock price was down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $6.27 and last traded at $6.3180. Approximately 485,085 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 2,024,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AQST. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $753.35 million, a P/E ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 1.59.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $12.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 million. As a group, analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter E. Boyd sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 268,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,261. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cassie Jung sold 67,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total transaction of $473,700.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 240,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,804.71. This trade represents a 21.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 199,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,301,803. Insiders own 7.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,627 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,918,000. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 154.1% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 1,335,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 809,928 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,381,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,049,000. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc operates as a pharmaceutical company in the United States and internationally. The company markets Sympazan, an oral soluble film formulation of clobazam for the treatment of lennox-gastaut syndrome; Suboxone, a sublingual film formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone for the treatment of opioid dependence; Zuplenz, an oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and post-operative recovery; and Azstarys, a once-daily product for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.