ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Cut to Neutral at UBS Group

UBS Group lowered shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. UBS Group currently has $23.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $49.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ACAD. Weiss Ratings upgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.34.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ ACAD opened at $19.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.05. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $18.39 and a twelve month high of $30.96.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.55 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 33.42% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,981,934.16. This trade represents 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,019,894. Corporate insiders own 26.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $569,634,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 47.3% in the first 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 last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $72,461,629. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,155,160 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $70,222,000 after purchasing an additional 234,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,026,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,736,000 after purchasing an additional 478,941 shares in the last quarter. 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 disorders and rare diseases. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and serves patients and healthcare providers primarily in the United States.

ACADIA’s commercial products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), an atypical antipsychotic approved in the United States for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis.