Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $30.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 35.62% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $22.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.22. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $13.40 and a one year high of $25.23.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $244.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.32 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 22.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James Kihara sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,887.50. This trade represents a 16.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 2,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.82, for a total transaction of $40,132.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,137.92. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,007 shares of company stock worth $580,446 over the last quarter. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $29,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 231.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

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.