Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aquestive Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AQST opened at $4.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.08. The stock has a market cap of $533.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.54 and a beta of 1.49. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $2.93 and a 12 month high of $7.55.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aquestive Therapeutics

In other news, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQST. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $1,463,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $1,978,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $44,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $122,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 32.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.