ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 27th, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ACAD. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. 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 report on Monday, June 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective 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. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.45.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of ACAD traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.18. 498,044 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,745,706. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.87. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $18.39 and a fifty-two week high of $30.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.03 and its 200-day moving average is $23.62.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $342.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.58 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.13% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 3,321 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $69,342.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 71,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,489,203.36. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 26.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,073,834 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,461,629. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,026,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,736,000 after purchasing an additional 478,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for central nervous system and neuropsychiatric disorders. The company’s research programs target conditions with significant unmet medical needs, including neurological and rare neurodevelopmental diseases.

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