ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’ (ACAD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $28.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $17.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64 and a beta of 0.38. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $14.15 and a one year high of $32.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.97.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 27.29% and a net margin of 13.83%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.40) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $145,679.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,264.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 9,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $148,720.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,270.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $145,679.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,264.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 51,014 shares of company stock worth $779,494. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACAD. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,251,940 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,937,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,738,000 after purchasing an additional 781,070 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $10,550,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,704,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $43,947,000 after purchasing an additional 446,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 419.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 517,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,953,000 after purchasing an additional 417,648 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.