ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.69, but opened at $18.24. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $18.42, with a volume of 1,043,031 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACAD shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.60.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 9.9 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53 and a beta of 0.40.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,897.03. This trade represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $172,453.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,302 shares in the company, valued at $896,006.62. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,661 shares of company stock worth $414,551 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 431.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,774,353 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,083,000 after buying an additional 2,251,940 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% during the second 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. Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $10,550,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $8,882,000. 96.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.