ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.66, but opened at $18.25. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $18.39, with a volume of 386,029 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.81 and a 200 day moving average of $16.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.37.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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 approximately $896,006.62. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $68,467.13. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,863 shares in the company, valued at $333,897.03. This trade represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,661 shares of company stock valued at $414,551. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ACAD. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 126.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,269,000 after purchasing an additional 154,854 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $483,000. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,704,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $43,947,000 after acquiring an additional 446,875 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 259.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 223,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 161,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2,084.0% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 31,426 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.