ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.70.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ACAD. StockNews.com downgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 4,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $89,673.37. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,595 shares in the company, valued at $320,756.85. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 3,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value of $51,070.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,773 shares in the company, valued at $916,485.80. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,994 shares of company stock worth $313,131 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACAD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 231.5% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,618 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ACAD opened at $17.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.47. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $13.40 and a 12 month high of $20.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.00.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The company had revenue of $244.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 earnings per share 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.