Oppenheimer Initiates Coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST)

Key Points

• Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) with an "outperform" rating and an $8.00 price target (about 96% upside); the consensus analyst rating is "Buy" with an average price target of $8.80.
• Aquestive missed recent quarterly expectations (EPS of -$0.26 vs. -$0.13 expected; revenue $13.02M vs. $13.28M expected) and its shares recently traded around $4.07, giving a market cap of roughly $497M.
• Insiders sold 395,690 shares (~$1.65M) in the last quarter, lowering insider ownership to about 8.35%, while institutional ownership is around 32.45%.

Research analysts at Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer's price target would suggest a potential upside of 96.37% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AQST. Lake Street Capital set a $6.00 price objective on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Aquestive Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $8.80.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AQST traded up $0.00 on Friday, hitting $4.07. 88,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,945,352. The company's 50 day moving average price is $4.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $497.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.54. Aquestive Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.12 and a one year high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $13.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.28 million. Research analysts predict that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, CFO A Ernest Toth, Jr. sold 58,254 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total transaction of $242,919.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 376,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,568,387.04. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sherry Korczynski sold 15,741 shares of the 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 $65,639.97. Following the sale, the insider owned 241,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,457.89. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 395,690 shares of company stock worth $1,650,027 in the last quarter. 8.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 78.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,413 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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