Aquestive Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AQST)

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 6,009 put options on the company. This is an increase of 141% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,494 put options.

Aquestive Therapeutics Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ AQST opened at $3.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.20. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $2.93 and a 52-week high of $6.85.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $7.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AQST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel Barber sold 25,000 shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.22, for a total transaction of $105,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 627,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,647,277.74. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sherry Korczynski sold 8,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.22, for a total value of $45,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 235,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,296.58. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,750 shares of company stock worth $271,675. Corporate insiders own 6.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bratton Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Aquestive Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $40,813,585. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $33,569,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted 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 buying an additional 1,197,459 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,385,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after buying an additional 507,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,923,000. 32.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products that use its proprietary PharmFilm oral film technology. The company’s films are designed to deliver medicines through the mouth, potentially offering alternatives to tablets, capsules, injections, or other conventional dosage forms.

Aquestive’s marketed products include Libervant (diazepam buccal film), an FDA-approved treatment for the acute, intermittent, and stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity associated with epilepsy, and Exservan (riluzole oral film), an FDA-approved treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.