ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ACAD. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ACAD traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $16.57. 317,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,674,898. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.01. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $14.15 and a 52-week high of $32.59. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.38.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.40) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $145,679.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,264.56. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $485,094.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 186,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,560.40. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,014 shares of company stock worth $779,494 in the last ninety days. 28.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACAD. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 17.8% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,186,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,007,000 after purchasing an additional 481,950 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,937,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,738,000 after buying an additional 781,070 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,934,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,693,000 after acquiring an additional 292,906 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 431.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,774,353 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,251,940 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,603,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,654,000 after acquiring an additional 281,410 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization innovative medicines that address unmet medical needs in central nervous system (CNS) disorders and rare diseases in the United States. The company offers NUPLAZID (pimavanserin) for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis; and DAYBUE, a novel synthetic analog of the amino-terminal tripeptide of insulin-like growth factor 1 for treatment of Rett Syndrome.