ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Trading 6.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) traded up 6.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $18.78 and last traded at $18.95. 661,907 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,556,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACAD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.37.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $173,630.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares in the company, valued at $1,043,985.05. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $68,467.13. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,897.03. This trade represents a 17.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,661 shares of company stock valued at $414,551 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 380.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,483,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,576,000 after buying an additional 1,966,607 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% during the second 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. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,550,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,882,000. 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.