ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’ (ACAD) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $41.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 84.85% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.97.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 12.8%

Shares of ACAD stock traded down $3.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.18. 6,638,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,105. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.21. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $19.69 and a 52-week high of $30.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.86.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.11. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 33.42% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $432,660.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,994 shares in the company, valued at $496,313.22. The trade was a 46.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.22, for a total transaction of $417,612.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,981,934.16. This trade represents a 17.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,019,894 over the last quarter. 26.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,343,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $74,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,834 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,451 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,539,000 after purchasing an additional 106,807 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,155,160 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $70,222,000 after purchasing an additional 234,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palo Alto Investors LP purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,461,629. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: The once-daily 60 mg dose showed improvement in hallucinations and delusions versus placebo, although the result narrowly missed statistical significance on the study’s primary endpoint. The drug’s safety profile was described as clean, and ACADIA said the data support moving into a Phase 3 trial. ACADIA Phase 2 RADIANT results
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its “buy” rating with a $41 price target, while Citigroup maintained a “buy” rating despite lowering its target to $33 from $40. These targets imply substantial potential upside if remlifanserin succeeds in Phase 3 and ACADIA’s existing portfolio remains strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: ACADIA plans to advance remlifanserin into Phase 3 even after the endpoint miss. That preserves the program’s potential value, but also introduces additional development costs and regulatory risk. ACADIA Phase 3 plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed at zero shares as of September 24, producing a zero-day days-to-cover ratio. Because this conflicts with the description of a “large increase” in short interest, the figure may reflect a reporting or data-timing issue and offers little actionable insight.
• Negative Sentiment: The primary endpoint miss raised doubts about the drug’s clinical meaningfulness, effect size, and ability to replicate in Phase 3. Analysts and investors are concerned that the trial’s positive trends may not be sufficient to support approval, driving broad selling in ACADIA shares. Reuters report on ACADIA trial results
• Negative Sentiment: BMO lowered its price target to $34 amid heavy selling, adding to the evidence that the market is reassessing remlifanserin’s probability of success. The key catalyst ahead is the design and outcome of the planned Phase 3 program.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

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.