ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

ACAD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ ACAD opened at $16.77 on Thursday. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $14.15 and a 12 month high of $32.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.56 and its 200 day moving average is $16.00.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released 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 firm had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.40) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $145,679.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at $797,264.56. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $485,094.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,560.40. This trade represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,014 shares of company stock valued at $779,494 in the last ninety days. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACAD. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,875,540 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,234,000 after acquiring an additional 30,826 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 126.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,269,000 after purchasing an additional 154,854 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,973,874 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $91,878,000 after purchasing an additional 173,084 shares during the period. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,535,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $3,802,000. 96.71% of the stock is 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.