ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Stock Price Up 5.4% – Should You Buy?

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) shot up 5.4% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $17.72 and last traded at $17.3980. 1,701,954 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 1,799,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACAD shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 19th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.55.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 8.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.61 and a 200-day moving average of $23.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.87.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.11. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.13% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company had revenue of $342.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 3,321 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $69,342.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 71,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,489,203.36. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 26.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,073,834 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Palo Alto Investors LP purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,461,629. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,724,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,381,000 after buying an additional 191,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological and rare diseases. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in San Diego, California, the company conducts research and development alongside its commercial operations. Its marketed products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), approved in the United States to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis, and DAYBUE (trofinetide), a treatment for Rett syndrome.