ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Stock Keeps “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Monday, October 19th, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $35.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 65.27% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ACAD. UBS Group cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of ACAD traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $21.18. 498,044 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,745,706. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.87. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $18.39 and a fifty-two week high of $30.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.03 and its 200-day moving average is $23.62.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $342.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.58 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.13% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 3,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $69,342.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 71,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,489,203.36. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 26.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,073,834 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 234,186 shares during the period. Palo Alto Investors LP purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,461,629. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,026,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,736,000 after buying an additional 478,941 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

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.