Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Aquestive Therapeutics has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from seven analysts: five buys, one strong buy and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $8.80, compared with the stock’s $5.34 opening price.
• Institutional ownership has grown, with Bratton Capital and BlackRock initiating sizable positions while Vanguard, State Street and Bank of America increased their holdings. Institutions collectively own 32.45% of the company.
• The company exceeded revenue expectations with $13.82 million in quarterly sales but posted an adjusted loss of $0.18 per share, missing the $0.10 loss consensus estimate.

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $8.80.

Several research analysts have commented on AQST shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Aquestive Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total transaction of $125,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $125,500. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale 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. 6.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bratton Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,813,585. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $33,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,627 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,910,000 after acquiring an additional 860,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 99.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,405,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.45% of the company's stock.

Aquestive Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AQST stock opened at $5.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $670.22 million, a P/E ratio of -8.22 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $4.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.22. Aquestive Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.93 and a one year high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $13.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.42 million. On average, research analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source