Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Shares Up 6.7% – Time to Buy?

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST)’s share price shot up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $5.05 and last traded at $5.0360. 488,019 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,168,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AQST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a market cap of $626.62 million, a P/E ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.40.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $14.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aquestive Therapeutics news, Director Julie Krop sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total value of $125,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,500. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Barber sold 8,257 shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total transaction of $35,422.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 660,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,862.46. This represents a 1.23% 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. 6.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aquestive Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 17.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 6.0% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC grew its position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC now owns 155,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 58,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 369,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. 32.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.