ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

ACAD has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.83.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACAD opened at $21.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18 and a beta of 0.47. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $13.40 and a one year high of $25.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.32.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $244.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,553,250. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 4,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $89,673.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $320,756.85. This trade represents a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,994 shares of company stock valued at $453,131. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 380.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,483,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,607 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,269,000 after buying an additional 154,854 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,947,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $255,939,000 after acquiring an additional 104,444 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 162,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 64,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

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.