Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST)

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 6,009 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 141% compared to the average volume of 2,494 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AQST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aquestive Therapeutics

In other news, insider Sherry Korczynski sold 8,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.22, for a total value of $45,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 235,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,296.58. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Barber sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.22, for a total value of $105,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 627,317 shares in the company, valued at $2,647,277.74. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 58,750 shares of company stock valued at $271,675 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bratton Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,813,585. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $33,569,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 99.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,405,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,459 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 57.8% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,385,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 507,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $3,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Up 2.5%

Aquestive Therapeutics stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $3.87. 551,240 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,912,447. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.20. Aquestive Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $2.93 and a twelve month high of $6.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $485.10 million, a PE ratio of -5.95 and a beta of 1.49.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $13.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.42 million. Analysts anticipate that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.50 EPS for the current year.

Aquestive Therapeutics Company Profile

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products that use its proprietary PharmFilm oral film technology. The company’s films are designed to deliver medicines through the mouth, potentially offering alternatives to tablets, capsules, injections, or other conventional dosage forms.

Aquestive’s marketed products include Libervant (diazepam buccal film), an FDA-approved treatment for the acute, intermittent, and stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity associated with epilepsy, and Exservan (riluzole oral film), an FDA-approved treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.