Analysts Set Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Price Target at $8.83

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.8333.

A number of research firms have recently commented on AQST. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Aquestive Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2%

Aquestive Therapeutics stock opened at $6.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $761.28 million, a P/E ratio of -8.79 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.21. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.12 and a 12-month high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $12.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Cassie Jung sold 67,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total value of $473,700.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 240,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,804.71. This represents a 21.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter E. Boyd sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 268,323 shares in the company, valued at $1,878,261. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,847 shares of company stock valued at $685,605. 7.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 1,676,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 340,767 shares during the last quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 141.9% in the second quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC now owns 947,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after buying an additional 555,860 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $547,000. Everstar Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 38.7% during the first quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 83,777 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $686,000. 32.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.