Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Stock Price Down 10.4% After Insider Selling

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) shares traded down 10.4% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $4.32 and last traded at $4.4720. Approximately 789,612 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 3,158,161 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.99.

Specifically, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total transaction of $125,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,500. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AQST. Wall Street Zen raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Trading Down 11.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $555.12 million, a P/E ratio of -7.25 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.40.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $14.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 78.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 103.9% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 264,000 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.