ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 2,924,825 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 71% from the previous session’s volume of 1,707,898 shares.The stock last traded at $19.08 and had previously closed at $18.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACAD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.81 and a 200 day moving average of $16.40.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $250.40 million during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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 owns 53,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,006.62. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $173,630.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,043,985.05. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,661 shares of company stock worth $414,551. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. 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.