Short Interest in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Expands By 7.5%

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,240,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the October 31st total of 9,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $173,630.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares in the company, valued at $1,043,985.05. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $172,453.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,006.62. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,661 shares of company stock worth $414,551. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACAD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $16.30 on Wednesday. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $14.15 and a 1-year high of $32.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.03.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.40) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.