ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.95.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ACAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $29.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 4th.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of ACAD opened at $26.93 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.32. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $13.40 and a 1 year high of $27.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.67.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.28. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 24.94% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $278.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, Director James M. Daly sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $671,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,041 shares in the company, valued at $90,397.17. This represents a 88.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.69, for a total transaction of $96,749.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,624.02. This represents a 14.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,010,957. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Braidwell LP acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $50,760,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 496.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,969,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,487,000 after buying an additional 1,639,315 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1,055.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,632,749 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,120,000 after buying an additional 1,491,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $31,679,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2,052.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,483,235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,315 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.