Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Eight analysts rate Aquestive an overall Buy (1 sell, 5 buy, 2 strong buy) with an average 12‑month target of $8.80.
• Insider selling: Corporate insiders sold 395,690 shares worth about $1.65M in the last quarter, including Lori Braender (40,102 shares) and SVP Melina Cioffi (25,311 shares) on March 10.
• Earnings miss and valuation: Aquestive reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.26) vs. ($0.13) expected and $13.02M revenue (vs. $13.28M), with sell‑side forecasts of -$0.46 EPS for the year; shares trade around $4.17 (market cap ~$509M).

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.80.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Lake Street Capital set a $6.00 price target on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori J. Braender sold 40,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total transaction of $167,225.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 442,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,846,805.43. This trade represents a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Melina Cioffi sold 25,311 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total value of $105,546.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,146,195.39. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 395,690 shares of company stock valued at $1,650,027. Corporate insiders own 8.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQST. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 12.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 129,019 shares of the company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 14,025 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 16.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,977,001 shares of the company's stock worth $6,545,000 after purchasing an additional 276,295 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 15.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,751 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 13,130 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 46.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,972 shares of the company's stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 137,956 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 35.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 140,872 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.45% of the company's stock.

Aquestive Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AQST stock opened at $4.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $508.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.35 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.03 and a 200-day moving average of $5.13. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $2.12 and a 1-year high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $13.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.28 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.46 earnings per share 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.

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