ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Short Interest Down 10.1% in September

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,230,000 shares, a decrease of 10.1% from the August 31st total of 10,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACAD shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.56.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $145,679.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,264.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $145,679.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,264.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,560.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,014 shares of company stock worth $779,494 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 96,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after buying an additional 18,074 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 112.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 307,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,623,000 after buying an additional 162,663 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,578,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,108,000. Finally, Finepoint Capital LP increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Finepoint Capital LP now owns 769,653 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,098,000 after buying an additional 213,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ ACAD opened at $15.69 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,569.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.40. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $14.55 and a 52-week high of $32.59.

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

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.