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

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.95, but opened at $4.00. Aquestive Therapeutics shares last traded at $4.32, with a volume of 39,435,928 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AQST. JMP Securities increased their price target on Aquestive Therapeutics from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $488 million, a P/E ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.21.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $12.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 million. Analysts predict that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in Aquestive Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $5,918,000. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 1,676,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 340,767 shares during the last quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 141.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC now owns 947,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 555,860 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $547,000. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Aquestive Therapeutics by 119.5% in the second quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 658,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 358,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

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.