Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:ACAD)

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 3,003 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,379 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.36.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ ACAD traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.24. 379,003 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,680,722. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $19.69 and a 1 year high of $30.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.86.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.11. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 33.42%.The firm had revenue of $308.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $432,660.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,313.22. This represents a 46.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.22, for a total transaction of $417,612.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,981,934.16. The trade was a 17.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,019,894. 26.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $232,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 34,153 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 7,400 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting ACADIA Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ACADIA said the 60 mg once-daily dose reduced hallucinations and delusions more than placebo, although the improvement narrowly missed statistical significance on the study’s primary six-week endpoint. The company believes the data support advancing remlifanserin into Phase 3, citing favorable safety and efficacy trends. ACADIA Phase 2 RADIANT results
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating and maintained a $41 price target, while Citigroup kept a Buy rating despite reducing its target to $33 from $40. These targets indicate that some analysts still see meaningful upside if the Phase 3 program succeeds. Citizens lowers ACADIA price target
• Neutral Sentiment: ACADIA plans to proceed with Phase 3 development, but the decision increases spending and execution risk for a program whose pivotal design and likelihood of success are now under greater scrutiny.
• Negative Sentiment: The primary endpoint miss was the main catalyst for the selloff. Although the high-dose arm showed a positive trend, the effect size was considered modest, raising concerns about clinical usefulness and whether the result can be reproduced in Phase 3. Reuters report on the Phase 2 endpoint miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts became more cautious following the results: Citi reportedly cut its estimated probability of remlifanserin success to 20%, while other commentary placed the odds near 25%. BMO also lowered its price target to $34 amid heavy selling. Yahoo Finance report on analyst reaction

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and conducts research and commercial activities primarily in the United States.

ACADIA’s marketed products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), an atypical antipsychotic approved for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The company also markets DAYBUE (trofinetide), a therapy for Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder.

Founded in 1993, ACADIA continues to advance a pipeline of therapies for central nervous system conditions, including additional neurological and psychiatric disorders.