ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. UBS Group now has a $23.00 price target on the stock. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $19.05 and last traded at $18.9650, with a volume of 20,693 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.41.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.34.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.22, for a total value of $417,612.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,981,934.16. The trade was a 17.40% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 36,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,019,894 in the last quarter. 26.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $569,634,000. Palo Alto Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $72,461,629. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,900,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 47.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,073,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $19,244,000. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.3%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.26 and a 200 day moving average of $24.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for central nervous system disorders and rare diseases. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and serves patients and healthcare providers primarily in the United States.

ACADIA’s commercial products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), an atypical antipsychotic approved in the United States for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis.