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

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 73.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ACAD. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. UBS Group lowered shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.34.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.19. 1,409,867 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,731,432. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $18.39 and a 1 year high of $30.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.01.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.55 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 33.42%. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ACAD. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 worth $74,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,834 shares during the period. Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,461,629. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,155,160 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $70,222,000 after acquiring an additional 234,186 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,026,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,736,000 after acquiring an additional 478,941 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.