Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Short Interest Up 8.6% in January

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,480,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the December 31st total of 9,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQST has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aquestive Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

Aquestive Therapeutics stock opened at $2.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $263.51 million, a P/E ratio of -6.42 and a beta of 2.67. Aquestive Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $2.24 and a fifty-two week high of $6.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.22.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,667,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,306,000 after acquiring an additional 90,543 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,496,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 512,682 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Aquestive Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 984,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,505,000 after buying an additional 61,200 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 1,419.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvey Capital Management Inc. now owns 267,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 249,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. 32.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.