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

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) shares traded up 6.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $18.78 and last traded at $18.95. 661,907 shares traded hands during mid-day 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

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.61.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. 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 prior year, the firm posted ($0.40) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 35,281 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,093 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 2,044 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 380.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 103,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 7,491 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.