ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

ACAD has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an outperform rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACAD opened at $16.32 on Friday. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $14.55 and a 1 year high of $32.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,630.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $16.90 and its 200 day moving average is $17.04.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $241.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.95 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business’s revenue was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 9,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $148,720.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,270.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 9,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $148,720.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 43,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,270.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of the 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,014 shares of company stock worth $779,494. 28.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACAD. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 431.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,774,353 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251,940 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,187,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,342,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,937,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,738,000 after acquiring an additional 781,070 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,550,000. 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.