ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $41.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 74.61% from the company’s previous close.

ACAD has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.36.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ ACAD traded down $1.95 on Thursday, reaching $23.48. 2,983,430 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,666,239. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $19.69 and a fifty-two week high of $30.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.21.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.11. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 33.42%.The business had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $432,660.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,313.22. This represents a 46.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.22, for a total value of $417,612.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,981,934.16. This represents a 17.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,699 shares of company stock worth $1,019,894. Insiders own 26.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ACAD. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting ACADIA Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ACADIA said the Phase 2 results support further development, with the 60 mg once-daily dose showing a numerical improvement over placebo in reducing hallucinations and delusions. Company management described the Phase 3 opportunity as worth pursuing. Acadia’s Remlifanserin Phase 2 Data Support Phase 3 Development
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed its “buy” rating and maintained a $41 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Needham Reaffirms Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: ACADIA intends to use the mixed RADIANT findings to design a Phase 3 program, leaving the Alzheimer’s psychosis opportunity alive but dependent on confirmation in a larger pivotal trial. ACADIA Announces Phase 3-Enabling Results
• Negative Sentiment: Remlifanserin failed to achieve statistical significance on the study’s primary measure at six weeks, despite reducing hallucinations and delusions more than placebo at the 60 mg dose. Investors viewed the result as a material clinical-development setback, driving heightened selling pressure in ACADIA shares. Alzheimer’s Psychosis Drug Misses Main Goal

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and conducts research and commercial activities primarily in the United States.

ACADIA’s marketed products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), an atypical antipsychotic approved for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The company also markets DAYBUE (trofinetide), a therapy for Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder.

Founded in 1993, ACADIA continues to advance a pipeline of therapies for central nervous system conditions, including additional neurological and psychiatric disorders.