Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,766,542 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,700 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 3.03% of Aquestive Therapeutics worth $13,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 14.7% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 9,496 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AQST shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Aquestive Therapeutics from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AQST opened at $3.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.07. Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $1.84 and a one year high of $6.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.11 and a beta of 2.62.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $13.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc operates as a pharmaceutical company in the United States and internationally. The company markets Sympazan, an oral soluble film formulation of clobazam for the treatment of lennox-gastaut syndrome; Suboxone, a sublingual film formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone for the treatment of opioid dependence; Zuplenz, an oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and post-operative recovery; and Azstarys, a once-daily product for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.